Naruto of the Dawn
by Senge Waber
Summary: Naruto finally returns home after his 3 years with Jiraiya, but he was expecting something to be different. Be careful what you wish for. Radiant Dawn setting.
1. Unannounced arrival

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fire emblem.

**Unannounced arrival**

"Ah, I'm finally back..." Naruto stood at the gates of Konoha after his three year long training trip with Jiraiya. It wasn't quite as exciting as it sounded a week ago, though.

"Naruto, you ok?" Jiraiya thought something was wrong. A week ago, he was jumping with joy at the opportunity to return to his home. Now, he looked like someone had bashed his head with a rock. A really heavy one.

"I don't know Pervy Sage, I just thought it would have changed, I guess. But everything's still the same."

A familiar face walked past.

Shikamaru.

"Naruto? Is that you? I'd have thought I'd be hearing you shouting 'I'm home' or something."

"Hey Shikamaru. What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing important...yet. Tell you what, considering you just got back, I'll round everyone up, and we'll all head to Ichiraku's. I know how much you loved their stuff." Shikamaru barely believed what he was saying. Actually working? Then again, Naruto was...is a good, if simple friend.

.

About an hour later, the Rookie 8 were sitting at Ichiraku's. Team Gai was out on a mission, so they couldn't come. No-one other than Naruto actually liked the stuff, but they were here for him, and ate some anyway.

"-and you should have seen the size of the egg on his head after that! I swear, if a woman thinks someone's a pervert, they gain Tsunade like strength. That bastard Pervy Sage's substituted with me enough times for me to know...wow I'm tired." Naruto finished.

Everyone choked at this last comment. Since when did Naruto _ever_ get tired?

"You know guys, I was great how you all came, but I gotta hit the sack. See you all tomorrow, ok?" Naruto ended with a yawn, waved goodbye, and trudged back to his apartment.

The Rookie 7 all thought the same thing.

_A well rested Naruto loose in the village? Looks like we have to go to sleep now as well, to keep him in check..._

Of course, nobody knew how he was going to act. He had been gone for 3 years, after all, but it was better to play it safe.

Naruto found his apartment just like he left it. Completely trashed.

_Wow, nothing's changed at all..._ Naruto thought. He found a couple off loose blankets, his hard mattress, and fell asleep.

.

A cold wind stirred. Naruto muttered something about perverted teachers leaving windows open, and went to close it.

But he wasn't in his trashed apartment anymore. He was on a very run down castle's outer wall.

In the dead of night.

He glanced back to where he was sleeping. No blanket, no mattress. He glanced at himself.

Fully clothed. Good. Three kunai in holster. Also good. Ten shuriken in pocket. Could be better, but ok.

Now the all important question.

Where the hell was he?

.

.

Everyday will have about 400 words worth of story, but I might not update everyday. If it takes me longer to update, it will be 400 for each day that i didn't update, and rest assured, i have planned out a lot of story material, so i doubt writers block will kick in for ages. I enjoy cliffhangers, though. You were warned.

Reviews can change the story, depending on how good they are. PMs and emails are also welcome.

Senge.


	2. I think he overdid it this time

**I think he overdid it this time.**

Sasuke had just finished testing the outer limits of his current chakra capacity for Orochimaru. He was just above exhaustion.

"Ok Sasuke, that's enough. We'll try again tomorrow." Orochimaru said creepily.

"Hn..." Sasuke grunted, but this time it was more because he couldn't even use energy to find words fitting the occasion.

He went to his room, and lent his sword against the wall. He laid down on the bed, sleep overcoming him almost instantly.

.

Something was wrong. Really wrong.

He opened his eyes, and was greeted by an abundance of blue flames. They weren't hot, and didn't burn anything, but he was being dragged _up_ by them.

He looked at, what he thought was, the source of the flames.

A strange bronze disc embedded in the roof. It's sixteen spikes opened up, barely missing Sasuke, and Sasuke saw an unfamiliar landscape before him.

It was grassy, with some trees and low lying bush.

Once he was through the...portal? Anyway, once he was through, gravity reasserted itself, and Sasuke tumbled forwards, and landed in a bush. He didn't feel the bush until after he had touched the ground, which was interesting, but not as interesting as sleep. A fact that was helped by the fact it was night time.

.

Morning came, and Sasuke woke to find strange people nearby. People with black wings.

_Orochimaru, when I find you, you are sooo dead._ Nobody messed with Sasuke like that. He was ok being around drug addicts and gays, but when one forced him to take drugs or act gay, they died. And Orochimaru had obviously given something to Sasuke, for him to see such weird people.

However, that all changed when one saw him, and actually interacted with him.

This one was fully clothed in black, and had a slightly regal demeanour.

"So, Begnion has another mission for us." The man said blandly.

_Ok...who the heck is Begnion?_ "Uh, no." Sasuke decided that until he either knew where he was, or this dream ended, he would play it safe.

"Ok, then who are you?" The man asked with a little more interest.

Sasuke answered with a question. "Who's asking?" Sasuke stood up.

"Naesala." The man responded.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Uchiha...haven't heard that name in a _long_ time. Actually, I never thought I would hear it again." Naesala sounded thoughtful.

"You haven't heard the name for how long?" Sasuke asked coldly. This was potential info about...wherever he was, and he wasn't about to let it slip through his fingers.

"Three years. Some guy called Itachi."

_Itachi! Always about you!_ "Where is he now?" Sasuke went to grab the man's collar, but was shoved away with surprising force.

"Try something like that again, and I will kill you. Remember that you could be considered an invader here." Naesala had let a menacing edge creep into his voice. He was all business now.

"I don't care. Where is Itachi!" Sasuke growled loudly.

"He vanished three years ago, and no-one has seen him, or anyone he was with since."

Sasuke punched the ground in anger, and as much could be seen across his face. _Always walking in his shadow..._


	3. Not what I expected to wake up to

**...Not what I expected to wake up to...**

Sakura was waking up in a comfier bed than she was used to.

Against her fuzzy mind, she willed her eyes to open, and found herself to be in a very well decorated room.

She glanced around quickly. No-one else was here...yet.

She looked out the window. Late afternoon.

_...Ok, I didn't sleep in_ that_ much, I'm still feeling tired._ Sakura thought.

She pushed the covers off, and made the bed perfectly. If she could sneak out of here, she could attempt to blend in with the crowd. Granted, her hair wasn't the most conducive for the plan, but it might work.

She carefully opened the door a crack, and saw no-one in the carpeted hallway. She opened the door wider, but luck is a fickle thing. Someone was walking past the door on Sakura's blind side, just as she walked out.

The two collided, and fell over backwards.

Sakura sized up her potential opponent. She had...pink hair. Sakura's eyes refused to budge from the woman's head. Maybe it was more common than she'd thought...

"Are you ok?" The woman asked, extending her hand with a guilty smile.

"Uh...yeah, I think." Ok, they spoke the same language. Very good start.

"Sorry about that. I don't think I've seen you around here before, and there aren't many pink haired people around. What's your name?"

_...Shit._ "S-Sakura..." She stuttered softly, trying to confuse this woman. Unfortunately, her hearing was better than Sakura had given her credit for.

"Sakura...Interesting name. I'm Marcia." Marcia gave Sakura's hand a light shake once she was standing up.

'_Interesting name'? Oh, that's not good._ Sakura thought furiously. "My head's...kinda foggy. Where am I?" Sakura closed her eyes and held her head.

"Castle Crimea, Melior." Marcia replied happily.

_Crud._ _No idea where that is._ Sakura closed her eyes tighter.

Marcia noticed that Sakura didn't remove her hands from her head. "Wow, you must've been really messed up. Let's get you fixed."

_Fixed? Fixed as in...robot?_ Sakura panicked slightly "Could you show me a map first? I can't remember a thing..."

Even Sakura realised her request made no sense at all. If they could 'fix' her memories, then Marcia would have no reason to take her to one.

But Marcia was more caring than that.

"Certainly." Marcia walked Sakura down the hallway, and into a side room...

.

.

There are no robots, this is merely Sakura's mind working overtime in an attempt to make sense of what she sees and hears.


	4. Fight on the castle

**Fight on the castle**

Naruto saw some torches nearby. He thought maybe they would know where he was, he didn't know about any castles, not in this shape. The castle may have been run down, but all Naruto had seen were either ruins, or still functioning.

Then a mean sounding voice called out. "Did you find anything?"

Another replied. "No, it was just a bird."

This had piqued Naruto's interest. Who were they searching for? Was it someone he knew?

Actually, he had already made his mind up. The man who was searching sounded mean and uncaring, so he would help the one who was hiding. He heard a slight scuffle nearby.

"Thought we couldn't see you?" The first man asked cruelly. "Look, silver hair..."

"If it's the fortune teller, we'll be heroes!" A more energetic man said.

Naruto finally saw them, five men clad in light red armour, all with spears. In the middle of them, was a young girl, probably in her late teens, with silver, almost white hair.

"If you don't want to get hurt, don't struggle." The first one sneered as he bound her wrists. "The commander wants you _alive_." He whispered the last word in her ear.

That was all Naruto needed. Even though he could see they all had some sort of experience with their weapons, he had to do something.

"**Shadow clone jutsu!" **Naruto yelled, deliberately turning all attention to him.

But nothing happened. Not so much as a poof of smoke, or a single clone.

"...Not good..." He muttered.

"The brat must be in league with them. Get him!" The original man shouted to his followers, who rushed to obey. A loud horn was heard.

Then Naruto saw somebody else, behind the soldiers. A green haired boy, about the same age as the girl, rushed up behind the man, and sliced his neck. The man dropped almost without a sound, but that sound was heard by the back 2 soldiers.

"Hey!" One shouted, and all 4 rushed back for the girl and the boy. The boy was only halfway through cutting her bindings with a knife before having to defend himself. Naruto only watched in awe as the man moved like a ninja, all to protect the girl.

He rushed forward to knee one in the stomach, and brought his knife up to defend against a second's spear. He leaped towards the second man, and jumped off his face, and finished by slicing downward with his knife, causing a fatal wound in a third. While moving back, he picked up a light yellow book, and finished slicing through the girls bindings while the soldiers were recovering.

Then Naruto made his entrance, now that the soldiers had forgotten him.

He leaped up, and punched the fourth man in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious.

The girl and boy both nodded to each other and the girl began saying something that Naruto couldn't understand. He could hear it clearly enough, but the words were...foreign.

The soldiers, however, knew exactly what was happening. "Stop her!" The one who had been kicked in the face yelled. By this time, something close to fifty soldiers had converged on the area, and all had their attention on the girl.

Two words. Bad, mistake.

The girl finished her incantation, and held her hand in the air. Naruto watched, enraptured by the display. A flash originating from her hand pierced everyone's eyes, resulting in much cursing.

Naruto would have been among them if it wasn't for his ninja training. He followed them by the sound of the girl's light footsteps, as he heard light feet leaving very quickly, and felt like they were the two allies he might have had.

As his sight slowly returned, he discovered he was in the presence of _five_ people, not two.

If the Pervy Sage was responsible for this, Naruto would walk into the woman's baths, and substitute with him. He deserved it.


	5. Mercenaries lodge

**Mercenaries lodge**

Shikamaru had woken up in a cottage, and had no clue where it was.

Immediately suspecting genjutsu, he tried two ways of dispelling it, first by reducing his chakra output to zero, then sending it racing through his body.

No change whatsoever.

He took a look outside, and it was surrounded by dense forest.

There were no cottages near Konoha, they would serve as landmarks for enemies, so where was he?

He heard voices nearby.

"I almost wish you kept that earldom in Crimea." A very young female voice. Cheerful.

"I couldn't remain mired in their power struggles anymore, Mist." A male voice. Rather annoyed.

"I'm just teasing you, silly." Mist proclaimed with mirth. "Anyhow, I'd rather be poor than be like one of those stuck-up aristocrats anyway."

"Someone's here." Another said with caution. Strangely, Shikamaru couldn't pick up the voice's gender. The group drew their weapons. "Only one as far as I can tell."

_Mercenary group. Well trained, probably just as skilled. I need to be careful._ Shikamaru thought. _If I act like I'm not a threat, then they'll probably leave me alone._ Shikamaru stumbled out of the cottage, acting drunk. _2 archers,3 swordsmen, 2 horse riders, a heavy armoured man, an axeman, a jutsu specialist and a medic._

Then Shikamaru heard the voice again. it belonged to a stony faced 15 year old boy. "He's not drunk, he's only acting it."

The man who was talking earlier began to talk as well. "What I wanna know, is how he found this place in the first place. Only we knew where it is." The man had blue hair, a solid build, and was just over average height.

Shikamaru decided it might be best just to come clean. If they trusted him, he might be able to find out where he was.

"Uh, I don't have a clue where I am, or who you are, so could you help me out here?" Shikamaru tried to keep it simple.

"His pockets are loaded with knives and throwing stars. Do we trust him?" The stony faced boy asked the blue haired man.

"Actually, I have my own suspicions about this guy, and what you said only supported it."

_Do they think I'm an assassin?_ Shikamaru thought.

The blue haired man walked forward. "I'm Ike." He extended his hand, and shook Shikamaru's.

_No reaction, just like I thought. He's a ninja._ Ike confirmed his suspicions. "Yeah, we can trust him." Ike called out to his fellow mercenaries. He introduced the group to Shikamaru, who gave his own name out in turn.

Mist, Ike's little sister, gifted in healing and has basic sword skills.

Mia, the dark blue haired swordsmistress.

Gatrie, the heavily armoured spearman.

Shinon, the dark red haired marksman.

Rolf, the green haired archer, training under Shinon.

Boyd, Rolf's older brother and adept axeman.

Oscar, Boyd's older brother and spear wielding horseman.

Titania, the deputy head of the group, and she also rides a horse, however prefers axes.

Soren, the tactical genius of the group. Was the stony faced boy that Shikamaru couldn't place.

Rhys, the sickly healer, in whom people are confident in his skills despite the fact he is almost always sick.

And Ike, the commander of the Greil Mercenaries.

"And we're in the outskirts of Crimea." Ike finished.

Shikamaru had a headache. Where was Crimea? Where was Konoha from here?

"Would you mind if I went with you for awhile? I need to sort some things out, then I'll probably ask more questions." Shikamaru asked.

"Sure. We'll probably do the same." Ike replied.

For a while, at least, the Greil Mercenaries had 12 in their number.


	6. At face value

**At face value**

Ino had a problem.

She had no idea where she was, and this village was tiny. As in, less than 100 people tiny.

People would know she wasn't from around here almost instantly, and until she knew more about this place, she couldn't pull off the traveller disguise.

Then a beacon of opportunity came, in the appearance of a woman carrying obviously stolen goods, however she was out of sight to the villagers.

Ino barred her path, and proceeded to blackmail the woman.

Her dirty secret, for information about this place.

She found out that she was in a small farming village called Ohma, close to the border between Crimea and Daein, who had both just fought a brutal war against each other. Ohma was within Crimea's border, however.

And none of the info referred to the elemental countries.

_How far away from home am I?_ Ino thought to herself.

.

Sasuke rose from the ground. How did this guy know Itachi, if he was in a strange land?

"Where is this place?" Sasuke asked.

"Considering Itachi came from a distant land, I suppose I can give you the basics. We are on a continent named Tellius, and this island kingdom is Kilvas, of which I am the current leader. And I intend to keep a short leash on you, as I can already see you act impulsively, and that could cause undesirable effects. Actually, I think you're too much of a problem to work with, so I'll just deal with it...permanently."

Naesala glowed blue, and his features shifted into a raven's, however this raven was huge. With a wingspan of just under 4 metres, this raven had talons as long as a person's arm.

Sasuke watched with a combination of both fear and fascination. And he thought Orochimaru was inhuman...

Sasuke could tell that a fight was inevitable, and activated his sharingan. He signed quickly, and prepared the fireball.

**Fireball jutsu.** Sasuke intoned in his head, and blew between his fingers.

Nothing, no heat, not even a wisp of smoke. It just looked like Sasuke was making a rude face at Naesala.

_Am I out of chakra? No, my eyes still work, and I would have felt a drain on my reserves if it was dangerously low. Curse mark? Worth a try._ Sasuke thought quickly.

Surprisingly, this worked. Sasuke squared off against the advancing raven. Naesala grabbed Sasuke's shirt and flung him into the trees.

Sasuke was able to grab a branch, and hang on. He tested his ability to stick to the tree with chakra, and it still worked. What had caused his fireball to fail? First stage curse mark wasn't enough, either.

Naesala found him crouching on a tree branch, and swooped down to attack him again. The flame patterns on Sasuke's body solidified, and he grew bat like wings.

Naesala rushed towards Sasuke, and the two collided, Naesala's sharpened beak with Sasuke's curse enhanced fist.

Naesala was stopped, his attack had lost its momentum, but Sasuke's hand had a savage gash from between his third and fourth finger to halfway up his forearm.

Naesala reverted back to human form, again via the bright blue glow.

"Go find a place for yourself, I'm not going to chaperone you. Your strength might just outweigh your impulsiveness." And Naesala walked off, leaving a stunned Sasuke behind.

.

Naruto walked with the group of five until they reached the outskirts of a very large city.

Then the green haired youth turned around, pushed him over and held him at a knife point.

"Just who are you?" He demanded.

"Whoa, you speak my language? I thought you'd be like the chick, all those fancy words and stuff..."

"Sothe, he's not a threat. If he was, I would've told you." Said the 'chick'.

Naruto blinked. "You too?"

"Well, you never tried to talk to us..." the girl responded. Naruto felt pretty stupid right now.

"I still want a name." Sothe said, glaring at Naruto.

"Naruto..." He responded slowly. This guy reminded him too much of Sasuke when he was an annoying loner.

Sothe quickly placed his knife in its holster, and extended his hand towards Naruto. Naruto took it, and Sothe hauled him up to his feet.

"You make a move that puts _any_ of us in danger, and you're finished. Got it?" Sothe asked sternly.

"Yeah, I hear you." Naruto holds his hands up in a 'no problem here' pose.

"We split up into groups of two. Edward and Leo, Nolan and Naruto, and Micaiah and myself. We meet at building #3 in 2 hours at the latest."

_Ok, Sothe is the green haired dude, Micaiah is the silver haired chick, Nolan is the old, strong guy behind me, and Leo and Edward are those two in front of me..._ Naruto was committing it to memory.

They split up and ran through the streets...

.

.

For those of you thinking I missed a day, not quite. this chapter was longer, so I decided two days to publish it. I'll probably do stuff like this after major cliffhangers, and for large fight scenes.

Ino's story was just a bonus, and saves me explaining it later. I'll probably put the rest of the rookie 9 in when the chapter reflects their activities, but all 9 arrived in Tellius at the same time.

Senge.


	7. The Dawn Brigade

**The Dawn Brigade**

Building #3 was rather small and abandoned, but to Naruto, it was just like home. A run down, obviously deserted building.

"Was anyone seen?" Sothe asked.

"Not that I know of." Nolan responded.

"Same here." The blonde archer replied.

"Good. Nolan and I will try to resupply, Edward, stay with Micaiah, Leo and Naruto, see if the patrols know we're here. Naruto, don't alert them, however." Sothe thought of the first time he'd seen him, attracting all the attention of the soldiers, letting him free Micaiah.

"Keep my mouth shut. Got it. By the way, what should I be listening for?" Naruto asked.

"You don't know?" Sothe looked at him incredulously.

Leo, the blonde archer, intervened. "I'll show him the ropes, just get going."

All of the group except Leo and Naruto vacated the building.

"So, what should I be listening for?" Naruto asked again.

"Any references to," Leo began pointing to a finger for each separate topic. "A, the Dawn Brigade, B, fortune teller or silver haired girl, wench, etc, or C, heroic brigands." Loe said the last with a completely straight face. He was completely serious, and had heard the soldiers refer to their group as such before. "If you hear any of the above said by a red armoured soldier, we need to notify the rest of our group. Finding Sothe or Micaiah is difficult even when you know where they are, but Edward and Nolan aren't too hard, so we should be able to let everyone know without too much difficulty."

"Ok, got it." Naruto followed Leo outside the building.

.

"Naruto!" Leo ran towards him. He was new to the group, so shouting his name shouldn't raise much attention.

"Nothing on my end. You?"

Leo held up his arm. A little red bird came and rested on it.

"This bird always follows Micaiah around unless she's in trouble." Leo hissed, and Naruto understood that Edward obviously hadn't done his job too well. "Follow the bird."

Naruto frowned. "How will a stupid bird lead us to Micaiah-OW! OW! OW! What gives? OW! I'm sorry!" Naruto tried in vain to protect his head, but when he said 'I'm sorry' the attack ceased.

"Stupid, psychotic bird...OW! OW! OK, OK!" The bird stopped attacking him again. Naruto glared at the 'innocent' thing.

Its eyes held intelligence beyond that of a human, and coupled with the blood on its beak, it appeared very demonic, for a thing the size of your hand.

"Is that thing demonically possessed?" Naruto whispered, not taking his eyes off the bird. It heard him, and attacked again.

Leo slapped his forehead. "Naruto, stop pissing the bird off, it's our fastest lead to Micaiah. So just shut your trap, and the bird will fly back to Micaiah."

The trip was much faster with a silent Naruto.


	8. Kyuubi

**Kyuubi**

Leo and Naruto were trying to find Micaiah in the dense streets of Daein's capital, Nevassa.

"This place is a labyrinth!" Naruto growled angrily as he followed Leo more than the bird. Hell, he could barely see the bird.

Leo, however, navigated the streets with practiced ease. His naturally sharp eyes helped him keep track of the small bird.

In the end, it seemed, finding them wasn't anywhere near as hard as they originally thought.

Edward and Micaiah were facing off against 7 axe wielding bandits, and making a fair bit of noise as well.

Edward spotted them. "YOU'RE LATE!" He practically screamed at them.

Leo calmly replied. "No thanks to Newbie here."

Naruto blinked. "Oh, don't go pinning this on me. Tell that bird to keep its bloody beak to itself."

_It'll be bloody in 2...1..._ Leo counted down mentally.

"AGH!" Naruto yelled, then tried swatting at the bird. It was no use, however, as the bird was far too agile for the blonde shinobi.

Micaiah sighed. "Yune!" She called out to the bird. The bird stopped attacking Naruto and flew over to Micaiah, landing on her right shoulder.

_Yune? Maybe it's something that calms it down..._ Naruto decided to test the theory. "Yune!" he called.

The bird hopped onto Micaiah's head, looking inquisitive.

_Maybe it didn't hear me..._ "Yune!" He called again. He got a slightly different, but infinitely more annoying reaction out of the bird.

The bird rolled its eyes, and rocked its head slightly.

_That bird didn't..._ "Did that bird just roll its eyes at me? Oh, that's it. That thing is going DOWN!" Naruto walked forwards, making a show of rolling up his sleeves.

Leo put an arm up in front of him. "What possessed you to take on 7 bandits all by yourselves?" He asked Edward and Micaiah.

"They were going to steal these people's stuff, and we couldn't just watch!" Edward shouted.

An axe arced over his head, and Edward saw the horror in Leo's eyes. He turned just enough to stop it from braining him, but the axe still bit into his shoulder. Edward dropped to the ground in silent agony.

Naruto drew a kunai, and prepared to throw it at the axeman, but it was already too late.

The axeman had two arrows protruding from both his heart and between the eyes, and fell over backwards.

Micaiah tried to run towards Edward, but another ruffian grabbed her arm, and pulled her towards him.

"You'll fetch a good price." The man sneered.

Micaiah mumbled something under her breath.

"That had better not have been an insult, wh-"

He never finished his sentence.

Balls of light, about the size of an average fist, crashed into the man's face and exploded.

"No matter the man, the goddess judges with an even hand." Micaiah said in a trance like state, as she was splattered with gore.

Point to self, do _not_ piss Micaiah off.

.

"_**The girl's almost as ruthless as I am!" **_The Kyuubi laughed.

Something about the massive gate was very wrong. "The seal...It's...gone...!" Naruto looked at where it was supposed to be, frozen with shock.

"_**Eh?"**_ The Kyuubi nudged the giant gate, and it slowly swung open.

Naruto could only watch with horror.

.

.

Evil cliffhanger! I already have the next chapter written, but I enjoy cliffhangers. Till next time.

Senge.


	9. Escape

**Escape**

"_**So, the seal really is gone...makes sense I suppose."**_ The Kyuubi muttered to himself.

"What makes sense?" Naruto asked warily.

"_**You can't perform any jutsu, so it makes sense that the seal would vanish as well."**_ The Kyuubi sneered.

It was much more frightening when it wasn't behind bars.

"No jutsu? Was that why the shadow clones didn't work?" Naruto was trying to keep the Kyuubi occupied until he thought of a way to subdue it. Brute force was NOT going to work on this thing.

"_**Yeah, chakra is really screwed over here." **_The Kyuubi grabbed onto the gate with his tails, and _closed_ it in _front_ of him, restricting himself back within his cage.

Naruto was confused. The Kyuubi must've had a damn good reason for doing that. "Why did you put yourself back in the cage?"

"_**I know nothing about wherever we are, and considering I'm mostly chakra, I might not be the same if I went out. And, dare I say it, if there are beings out there more powerful than I am, I think it would be better for me to stay under their radar for now."**_ The Kyuubi responded. _**'Something about that bird gives me the creeps, and considering I can barely feel any power from it, that's saying something. Then again, I shouldn't be able to feel it in the first place...'**_ the Kyuubi thought to itself. Maybe he could use his host as a surveillance tool...

"Ok, long story short, this place is really fucked up, and you have no clue what's out there. So you're using me to find out." Naruto summed it up.

"_**...Yep. Oh, keep an eye on that bird, I think it can give us some answers."**_ The Kyuubi drifted off to sleep.

.

Micaiah ran over to Edward, and placed her hand over his wound. Blue flames danced over Edwards shoulder, and the wound cleared before everyone's eyes.

_Those blue flames...where have I seen them before?_ Naruto thought to himself.

Micaiah looked very ill afterwards, probably because of the healing technique.

Another brigand rushed towards Micaiah...

Edward practically jumped off the ground, and slashed the ruffian from left shoulder to right hip as he landed, and dashed past the left side of the mortally wounded man, letting his limp blade finish him off.

Leo shot 2 more arrows at a fifth, and Micaiah finished him off.

Naruto stabbed one in the stomach, and drove him into a stone wall, then promptly broke his neck.

Then things took a turn for the worse for the Dawn Brigade.

An officer in the Begnion occupation army, with three of his red armoured fellows came into view.

"We have to move. NOW!" The normally calm Leo shouted.

Naruto saw that the best escape route was the one where the brigand leader stood, who was now much more confident.

Naruto threw his kunai at the man, and it nailed him in the groin, a very lucky shot. He dashed forward, and removed the ninja knife from the man.

"This way!" Naruto called, and the Dawn Brigade followed.

Edward just couldn't resist kicking the man in the balls as he ran past him.

It was too late, however. The Begnion officer had already seen them.

"Stop!" He yelled after them, but he was merely yelling into the empty streets.

.

The officer, however, would realise very soon, that yelling after them was a very bad idea.

The commander of the Begnion occupation army, Jarod, was within earshot. He had heard the word 'stop', and rushed towards what should have been a commotion.

This differed greatly to what he actually did see. He saw an officer standing at his post with an unhappy look on his face.

"Who were you yelling at, soldier?" Jarod asked.

"Comman-" the officer was cut off.

"And why did you do nothing but yell at them?" He asked more forcefully.

"I believe they were members of a gang of brigands openly defying our rule, going by the name of the Dawn Brigade, sir." The officer feared for his life.

"Ah, I understand." Jarod said simply.

The officer frowned. Jarod was known for his ruthlessness and cruelty, so why was he being nice? "You do?"

"Oh, completely. I understand JUST HOW INCOMPETENT YOU ALL ARE!" Jarod roared, and stabbed the officer in the stomach with his spear, and as his face came down Jarod placed his armoured foot in it, sending the man sprawling on his back. "WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE, FIND THEM AND BRING THEM TO ME!" Jarod yelled at the 3 soldiers, who were more than eager to put some distance between themselves and their enraged commander.

.

Nolan joined up with the group in a narrow alleyway. "Ok, who pissed off the Begnion forces?" Nolan asked. All three of them pointed at Edward. "I should've known..." Nolan shook his head.

"Where's Sothe?" Micaiah asked him.

"Looking for a way out of the city without attracting too much attention." Nolan looked at the pathway. "Is this the least guarded route?"

"We think so." Leo replied.

"Nolan, you take the front. If things go bad, you can take a few more hits than the rest of us." Micaiah said, as the narrow alleyway could let Nolan guard all of them. "We need to move before they come from behind us. Surprise is probably our only chance."

"Ok Micaiah, will do." Nolan placed himself in the middle of the alleyway, and charged forward, with the rest of the Dawn Brigade close behind.

The battle had started with 12 Begnion soldiers, and Micaiah was right, surprise helped a lot.

Nolan had attacked a spearman before he knew he was there, and his life ended. Naruto dodged a clumsy sword slash, and countered with a shallow cut to the man's right arm. He still held onto his sword, though. Micaiah sent the exploding balls of light into the man's torso, and he died. Leo turned another onto a tree, with arrows as branches.

Then the Begnion soldiers realised what was going on, and they organised their defence.

Edward dashed towards an archer, dodging an arrow, and slicing into him. Nolan brought his axe crashing down on another spearman, and Leo brought another soldier down.

Now 2 archers and 2 spearmen guarded one exit, and 2 swordsmen the other. Make that 1, one of the swordsmen ran away in fear.

"Come back you coward, they're only old farts and kids!" The swordsman shouted after his comrade.

Something snapped in Naruto, and his eyes flashed red.

Throwing his kunai towards the man's face, he rushed in. The man had his sword high to block the small knife, and that was his downfall. Naruto punched him in the stomach, and then used his left hand to jab at his wrist. The man dropped his blade, and Naruto sunk to the ground, delivering a Lee style kick to the man's jaw, sending him skyward and backwards. Naruto grabbed the dropped sword, and slashed the man's waist while dashing forward, leaving the sword outstretched behind him. The momentum of the doomed swordsman carried him onto the blade, impaling him. He died instantly.

The Dawn Brigade left through the created escape route, kunai left in the streets.

.

"_**More effective than I would've thought...hm..."**_ The Kyuubi mused.

"What did you do?" Naruto asked, wary of the beast.

"_**I loaded your body with my chakra, and you performed much better than without it."**_ The Kyuubi told him.

Naruto stopped. Was that why he saw red?

"_**For now, it's a team effort to keep you alive, brat."**_ The Kyuubi growled. He didn't like being inside the brat, but until he knew what the workings of this place were, he had to stay inside him.

"Uh, thanks?" Naruto had no idea what was going on, but as long as the Kyuubi wasn't trying to kill him, he was cool with it.


	10. Silent assassin

**Silent assassin**

After being run out of town, the Dawn Brigade met up with Sothe, and were walking down a well travelled road. Naruto was busy having a staring contest with Yune, who was perched on Micaiah's shoulder. Naruto's face inched closer and closer, determined not to give up.

Yune cheeped suddenly, and Naruto flinched. Yune ruffled her feathers happily.

"I swear that bird is mocking me..." Naruto growled, eye twitching.

A cleric intercepted the group. Panic was etched on her face.

"Our abbot is ill but the Begnion soldiers have all the medicine in the armoury please help the abbot!" It all came out in a cascade of words.

Everyone just looked at the girl and blinked. Micaiah processed what she had said first.

"Ok...calm down. What's your name, and I'm sure we can help the abbot." Micaiah said slowly.

"Thank you! My name's Laura." She had visibly calmed down.

"An armoury? As far as I can recall, there's only one near here, and I know the place fairly well. If someone can keep the guards distracted, I'm sure I can get the medicine." Sothe said simply.

_Ok, maybe a little like Sasuke, but he's kind if you're on his 'good list'._ Naruto rethought his opinion of Sothe.

"We'll all go. If Naruto fills in for you, the guards will think the Dawn Brigade are all on their front doorstep, and never suspect you." Micaiah suggested.

Sothe frowned angrily, but then his face took on a defeated look. "Alright Micaiah. This way."

Sothe lead the group towards the armoury.

.

The guard was surprisingly ready for an attack.

The distraction began without a hitch, just attracting their attention, and drawing the guards closer to Micaiah and Leo, who picked them off. Laura healed anyone who got hurt.

.

Sothe was close to the armoury's weaponry room. It was easily the biggest, and could easily serve as a treasure room.

Then he was spotted.

"Who are you? You aren't supposed to be here!" A guard shouted.

_So much for sneaking in..._ Sothe thought. "We are the Dawn Brigade, we go where we please." Sothe dashed behind the man, and slashed his neck. With the alarm raised, an archer came into view, and was able to fire a shot at Sothe. Sothe deflected it with his knife, and threw his blade at the archer, and it dug into his neck. Sothe found himself surrounded, and pulled out the slightly larger spare dagger he possessed, which was better for close quarters anyway.

_10...11. _Sothe counted his enemies twice, missing one could cause death. They were in a rough circle around him, and then Sothe dashed towards one.

He cut him from the left shoulder down, vertically, then sliced open the man's right kidney, and kicked his back to increase his speed and shot out of the circle. Straight into a wall.

Sothe ran up the wall about 2 metres, and kicked off it, crashing into another soldier, which he used as a cushion, and stole his lance form him. Sothe threw the spear at a bowman just as he fired, which threw his aim off, and the arrow pierced another soldier's neck. He felt something really solid crash into his back, so he lifted his feet up, and tensed. The war hammer turned Sothe into a human cannonball, which crashed into a swordsman. Said swordsman now had crushed lungs, and soon died.

Sothe retrieved the man's blade, and flicked the weapons into the other hand. The knife was in a reverse grip in his left, and the sword in a normal one in his right. A sword was too long for his liking, but he knew how to use one.

Sothe heard footsteps. Reinforcements for the enemy were coming fast.

6 to go. 7, the spearman who Sothe jumped onto was getting back up, but had no weapon. He ran from the battlefield. Back to 6.

Sothe decided he needed to wrap this up quickly. He couldn't afford to be here when those reinforcement arrived. He charged towards the man with the hammer, and used the knife to make a slice at the base of his helmet. He felt no resistance on the blade, and glanced back at the man, who was clutching at his neck. Sothe had somehow missed the helmet.

Two spearmen came rushing at him at the same time, and he dropped to the floor, let his own weapons go, and grabbed both the spears. He decided that spears like meeting new faces.

Sothe retrieved his own weapons, and now only an axeman, a swordsman, and a heavily armoured axeman were left. He tried the same tactic of attacking the base of the helmet, but the knife glanced off this time. Sothe used his knife and sword to grab the axe, but he was thrown to the ground by the heavy man. Sothe's left hand flicked outwards, and the dagger hit the swordsman in the heart.

Sothe saw that the swordsman was close to the original archer he felled, so _both_ of his knives were there. Sothe saw the unarmoured axeman charge forward, and threw the sword at him. The sword hit the axeman on the right wrist, causing him to drop the axe, as Sothe dashed for his 2 knives.

Sothe retrieved his original weapons, and attacked the heavy soldier once more. The first of his 2 knives was thin enough to fit through the visor, so he plunged the blade into the gap. The man collapsed with a metallic clunk, and Sothe saw the last man begin to run.

_Oh no you don't!_ Sothe mentally shouted, and threw his other knife at the fleeing man. It hit him just below the neck, severing his spine. While normally he would have been a quadriplegic, his last step caused him to tip sideways as he ran past a door. His face smashed into the stone corner, and the blood told a different story. The footsteps were rounding the corner as Sothe was trying to pry the knife from the heavy man's visor...

.

.

Updates may be slower for awhile, because I gave myself concussion two days ago, and my eye's acting funny. I'm not supposed to be looking at the computer until I'm better, so this could be the last update for a week or so. I've already made chapters 11-15, so it won't be writer's block or anything.

Senge.


	11. Strange parallels

**Strange parallels**

Shino looked at the sleeping man. He had dark hair, and an eye patch over his left eye. He was dressed in a black suit.

Shino took a step back, not wishing to disturb the man. His lone eye snapped open.

"Wow, you're quiet." He said simply, then yawned. "That's the closest anyone's gotten to me in ages."

_Is this guy for real?_ Shino thought to himself. "And you are...?" Shino asked.

"It's normally more polite to give your own name first." The man responded.

"Shino."

"Haar."

One awkward silence later...

"Where is this place?" Shino asked.

Haar looked at him strangely. "You...don't know where you are?" Haar asked him.

"Not a clue."

"This is the imperial palace of Begnion, the largest country on this continent, and you don't have a clue where you are?" Haar asked, completely dumbfounded.

"I suppose that answered my question." Shino responded.

Haar closed his eye, and breathed deeply. "I'm leaving soon."

"Why?"

"Because my superiors can't see past their oversized wallets." Haar answered.

"Fair enough."

"So what about you? Why are you here?"

"Don't know." Shino didn't care _what_ brought him there, but he did care about how he was going to get back. "I think I'll leave with you."

"Oh really..." Haar cracked his eye open.

Shino nodded. "I don't think you'll ask annoying questions."

Haar shrugged. "If you hang around, I'll let you know when I'm leaving."

"Deal."

.

There was one obviously unique person on the island.

She had pure white wings, unlike the black ones that everyone else had, and was garbed in white. She had blonde hair, and often had a sad face. She was almost always in the company of Naesala as well.

Today was different, however. This woman had walked over to Sasuke, and Naesala was nowhere to be seen.

"You...don't...speak." The woman said softly, and the words were strangely accented.

Sasuke looked strangely at the woman. "I can talk."

"Not...way I...do." Again, the strange accent.

"She understands you, she just doesn't know enough to say much back." Said an eerily familiar voice.

Naesala. "What is your problem with me?" Sasuke demanded.

"You don't belong here." Naesala began. "And you're a loose cannon. When the time comes, you won't listen to me, and it will cost me dearly."

"Naesala...no...fight..." The woman stuttered, but the look on her face suggested anything but shyness. It resembled resolve.

Then Sasuke understood what Naesala meant by she couldn't say much back. They conversed in an entirely different language. Naesala was getting angrier by the second, yet this woman was composed and calm. Naesala was fighting a losing battle.

Then Naesala threw his hands up in disgust and walked away angrily.

_...What was all that about..._ Sasuke stared at the back of Naesala wide eyed.

An aged crow walked up to them. "We'd better go now."

Sasuke looked at the man. "Go where?"

"To Crimea, to find Ike." The old crow replied.

"Would you mind if I went with you?" Sasuke asked, seeing an opportunity to explore the world.

"It's up to the princess." He glanced inquiringly at the woman.

_Princess? ! ?_ Sasuke almost choked on air.

The woman looked at Sasuke, and said. "...Yes...make...happy."

Sasuke knew they were probably going to need to fly, so he activated the curse mark. They took off for the distant land. Surprisingly, the woman began to sing while flying. The song had a strange effect, and Sasuke never reached his limit.

.

.

A little boring, considering I'm finally able to use a computer again, but this chapter was necessary. Will update more often now, and the focus will be predominantly on Naruto.

By the way, I intend to make a prequel to this story once I'm finished, but I don't own Path of Radience. Any info on the storyline, or interactions between characters in conversations would be extremely helpful. PM or review, it doesn't really matter.


	12. Capture

**Capture**

Naruto rounded the corner, and the room was painted red with blood.

He saw Sothe standing over a well armoured man, with a bloody knife, and a savage glint in his eyes. The blood that was all over his clothes didn't help much, either.

_Did I end up with the wrong people? This is a group of psychopathic killers!_ Naruto thought frantically.

"Oh, you made it this far already?" Sothe's eyes returned to normal.

"Uh, Sothe? What happened here?" Micaiah asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I got spotted." Sothe responded, avoiding the question with a basic answer.

_12 people dead, all because they were in the wrong place, at the wrong time._ Naruto was wrapping his head around the concept. It was regrettable, but in his line of work, he would have to do it himself one day.

"Anyway, the enemy has been thinned out. There should have been about 50 soldiers here, and I took care of 12..." Sothe began.

"Then they're at about half strength." Micaiah finished. "They'll probably defend key positions, so all we need to do is go for the supplies."

Some soldiers rounded the corner in front of them, and just gawked at the sight of so many dead soldiers. Sothe looked at them, and ignored them.

"So, it should be easy enough for me to get in, but we should probably get some weapons as well. Ours are a little worse for wear..." Sothe continued.

"Agreed." Micaiah also ignored them.

"Hey, someone finally put Callum in his place." One of the 3 soldiers said with a grin.

"...Callum?" Sothe asked.

"Yeah, a real bully, always hitting the rest of us because he's second in command. Anyway, see ya later!" All 3 soldiers ran past the group and towards the entrance.

"Ok, that was weird." Naruto stated.

"3 less to worry about." Leo replied calmly.

"We should go." Sothe began to walk off.

.

The weaponry room was unguarded now, the arrogant officer had deemed his own life was more important than the stolen funds. The group grabbed several better weapons each, except Naruto. Laura found the medicine she was after, and the group vacated the building.

.

"Wait a sec, Laura's missing." Micaiah stopped the group.

"She was with us just a second ago..." Naruto turned around, looking for any trace of her, despite the fact that Micaiah just said she was gone.

"We should split up and search for her." Sothe suggested. "I'll go with Micaiah-"

"No you won't!" Micaiah shouted at him. "I'm not getting any special treatment, Sothe. We're all equals, so we will _all_ split up, so we can find her. Meet back here in an hour." Micaiah dashed off.

"Sheesh, Micaiah sure woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning..." Edward shook his head distractedly.

Sothe stretched an arm out where Micaiah ran off. _Micaiah..._

.

Micaiah saw a spot of red. She circled it, and discovered it was a high ranking Begnion official.

"Where's Laura? ! ?" Micaiah demanded.

"How very perceptive of you, girl." The man responded. "ALDER!" A heavily armoured man without a helmet stood behind him, holding Laura firmly by the arm. 3 soldiers came from behind, completing the trap. "But obviously not enough. All I wanted was you, and the little mouse scurried right into my trap."

"Micaiah, get out of here! This is the commander of the Begnion forces in Daein, general Jarod!" Laura shouted.

"Let her go." Micaiah's voice chilled the air. It was the only warning this man was going to get.

"Not a chance. She's a valuable hostage, just like you are." Jarod replied.

Micaiah bared her teeth, but in reality this was merely cover for her incantation. She hurled several balls of light into the 3 soldiers behind her, but she felt something hard hit the back of her head, and all went dark...


	13. Prison break

**Prison break**

Micaiah woke to find herself in a small prison cell. 5 people were in it, and she only recognised Laura.

A stranger walked up to her.

"Hi. I'm Aimee, and on behalf of my sleeping friend here, Ilyana, we introduce ourselves."

Aimee had curly, black hair, and a slightly pouting lip. It looked really natural though.

Ilyana had a strange light aqua hair colour, and you could easily hear her stomach rumbling.

"I'm Micaiah, and I'm not sure if you know, but this is my friend, Laura. Where are we?"

"Damned if I knew. We were part of a merchant caravan passing through, and now we're here." Aimee replied.

"Um, excuse me?" The man in the corner asked.

"I assumed you didn't speak our language." Aimee looked at the man. He ignored her.

"Did you know your arm was bleeding?"

Micaiah looked at her arm, and sure enough, it was bleeding.

"Wow, I must be really out of it..." Micaiah muttered softly.

"If you want, you could borrow this." He held out a small vial. "It's a powerful herbal infusion, and it should fix it up."

Aimee was unconvinced. "Yeah, sure smells powerful. You sure it's safe?"

"Completely." The man smiled. He lifted his head slightly so that they could see part of his hooded face. He had kind, blood red eyes.

"I trust you." Micaiah smeared the stuff on her arm, and the wound healed before their eyes. It was slightly painful, though. "Thank you...?" Micaiah fished for his name.

"Kurth."

Sothe appeared at the gate with a lock pick. Yune flew from Sothe to Micaiah.

"Sothe?" Aimee blinked. Micaiah looked at them both questioningly.

"The guard forgot to mention you." Sothe hissed coldly. Aimee was completely unfazed.

"Oh, you're turning out to be quite handsome, the years are treating you well." Aimee smiled creepily.

"Sothe?" Micaiah was trying to figure out what was going on.

"Given up on Ike now, have we?" Sothe sneered at Aimee.

"Well, he's not here, so he never has to know." Aimee's grin got worse.

"Oh, Ike again..." Micaiah rolled her eyes.

Sothe heard footsteps, and drew a knife. Someone was coming around the corner.

Naruto popped his head around, and pulled it back when he saw Sothe's knife coming straight at it. It stuck to the wall for about 3 seconds, then it's weight dragged it to the floor with a dull clank.

"Whoa, watch where you aim those things..." Naruto hissed quietly. It had been far too long since he'd had to infiltrate an enemy occupied building.

Sothe immediately jumped to the worst conclusion. Naruto had planned this, and was leading the enemy here as he spoke.

"Traitor." Sothe glared at him.

"No, Sothe. He's not a traitor..." Micaiah tried to diffuse the situation.

"Sothe, can you just get them out already? I grabbed some stuff from this place, and we should get out of here sooner rather than later." Naruto hissed quietly.

Sothe grudgingly unpicked the lock, and the group escaped the inner compound, but they weren't out of the woods yet.


	14. Lady Luck

**Lady Luck**

"If you grabbed any thunder tomes, I could use them..." Ilyana said, trailing off. Naruto dumped a fair few book on her.

"I don't know if any are thunder, but I grabbed just about all the different ones there." Naruto said.

"There they are! Don't let them escape!" A voice called out. He was silenced by Edward's blade. The rest of the Dawn Brigade was there.

"How did you guys get in so far?" Sothe asked.

"Oddly enough, one of the soldiers let us in the back way. He said 'If you're here to save Laura, I won't stop you.'" Nolan responded.

Sothe slapped his forehead. "It was a trap to get every last one of us, and we fell for it."

"I'm not so sure. He was dressed in black armour, not red." Edward threw in his own thoughts.

_Black is Daein's colour, not Begnion's! What's a Daein soldier doing here?_ Sothe thought frantically.

The black soldier came into view.

"Aran? Is that you?" Laura asked.

"Laura! Quick, escape. I'll turn a blind eye." Aran replied, turning to face the Dawn Brigade.

"But these people are fighting to protect me. I'll not abandon them." Laura responded.

"Argh...I can't fool myself anymore..."Aran closed his eyes.

"Huh?" Came Laura's intelligent response.

"I know what Begnion's been doing, and I can't ignore it anymore." Aran supplied.

"So..." Laura prodded.

"I'll fight with you guys. For a free Daein." Aran whispered.

"Quick! This is the way we came in!" Edward called out, running back the way he came.

"Wait! You have to protect us!" Aimee called out, referring to herself and Kurth.

Sothe glanced back. "Then you'd better run. It's every man and woman for themself out here." Sothe sped away, Aimee and Kurth chasing after the group.

.

Resistance was thin, and the Dawn Brigade saw the outer wall. There was a lone horseman guarding the exit.

"Not so fast!" He yelled out.

Sothe heard a whizzing noise behind him, and rolled sideways yelling. "Naruto!"

Naruto was also in the path of the arrow, and desperately leaped sideways, right into the horse. The horse reared, throwing the rider off into the stone wall. His head hit first, and the man didn't pick himself up out of his own pooling blood.

"There's the exit! Move!" Sothe yelled, and ran forward. The augmented Dawn Brigade fled the compound.

As Edward ran past the body, he claimed the sword. It was better than what he currently had.

.

Aimee's caravan was rather easy to find.

There, the Dawn Brigade heard a rumour that the crown prince of Daein, the son of the late Mad King Ashnard, has been raising an army in the Desert of Death.

"In the Desert of Death, important encounters await us. Our next destination." Micaiah opened her eyes.

_No more Aimee!_ Sothe silently rejoiced.

"We can go together, considering that's our next supply location!" Aimee dashed Sothe's hopes.

"Uhh...sure..." Micaiah agreed, not really sure why Aimee was so happy, and fearing Sothe's reaction.

Sothe just discovered what dirt tasted like, because he went face first into the ground at the news. He couldn't be bothered standing back up just yet.

_Oh, shit._ His mind chanted over and over.


	15. Desert of Death

**Desert of Death**

Hinata looked around. She was surrounded by a sea of yellow. A lone island of green was seen in the distance. She ran towards it.

.

A man stood by the oasis. He was darkly tanned, and had a furry tail. He asked something, but the words were foreign. With no emotion to go by, and being who knows where, Hinata settled into a gentle fist stance.

The man looked slightly taken aback by the show of aggression, but then he glowed blue, and his silhouette shifted into that of a 5 foot tall black wolf.

Hinata was now paralysed with shock. She'd never heard of such an ability.

A song drifted through the trees, and Hinata relaxed. Then she fainted.

A white robed man with wings came, with a regal white wolf. The white wolf tossed Hinata on her back, and the group walked off.

.

After a very annoying trip to the west, the new group finally arrived at the eastern edge of the Desert of Death.

However, Sothe and Micaiah had noticed someone, and were wondering why that person was following them. They walked down a thin alleyway.

"Should we?" Sothe asked. Micaiah nodded.

They dashed back the way they came, just as the mystery figure walked in. Sothe collided with the heavy person, and Micaiah crashed into Sothe.

The person gave a girlish "Eep!" in surprise, and began to flee.

"Wait, don't run. We won't hurt you." Micaiah tried to calm the girl down.

Sothe stood up slowly, holding his head. "Not like we could. That armour sure is something..."

"Sothe." Micaiah stared at him warningly. Sothe suddenly couldn't feel the pain anymore. "Anyway, I'm Micaiah, and this is Sothe. Who are you?"

"M-Meg..." She responded shyly.

"Ok, Meg, why are you here?" Micaiah asked.

"I'm looking for someone." Meg sounded a little more confident.

"Well, so are we. Why don't you come with us?" Micaiah asked. Meg's face brightened considerably.

.

"Which way, Micaiah?" Sothe asked as they entered the desert.

"We try north first. Something's calling me." Micaiah replied.

They soon reached an old building.

"Sothe and I will look inside. Everyone else, look for anything suspicious, and find us if something's wrong." Micaiah told the group. Micaiah and Sothe entered the building.

Sothe whistled. "Are you sure it wasn't the gold calling you here, Micaiah?"

The floor was covered with golden treasure, almost royal wealth.

Micaiah opened her eyes. "No, it's further in. Yune?" Yune flew off down one of the corridors. Sothe and Micaiah began to follow.

"Sothe! Guys with tails are coming!" Naruto yelled as he ran into the room. Naruto whistled at the glittering wealth. Surely having _some_ wouldn't hurt...

Sothe looked back at Naruto. _Why did he refer to the laguz like that? People call them either laguz, or sub-human..._ Sothe filed that information away for later. "Laguz! What are they doing here?" Sothe turned around to face Naruto.

"I guess it's their home. I doubt any of the treasure would still be here if it wasn't guarded."

"Not that it matters in the end. Micaiah." Sothe looked at Micaiah. Micaiah nodded, and said something Naruto didn't understand. A bright flash of light attracted friend and foe...

.

A flash of light startled the wolves, but they made no move to investigate it. A small red bird flitted though the air, and landed on the man with white wings' shoulder.

Those small eyes held intelligence beyond human comprehension, and the heron couldn't help staring into their depths...


	16. Laguz

**Laguz**

The Dawn Brigade entered the large chamber, and saw 15 laguz. 9 cats and 6 tigers.

Of course, Naruto didn't know what these people could do, so when they transformed to fight, he was left blinking.

"Be careful around them, and defend until they're in human form. If we don't, we'll be ripped to shreds." Nolan advised.

This was quickly proven as the heavily armoured Meg took a nasty bite to the stomach. Laura rushed to her aid.

"This wound isn't too serious, but with the armour getting in the way of healing it, I can't do anything." Laura explained apologetically. Meg fell back within the Dawn Brigade's perimeter.

Naruto was merely observing the carnage at this point, his mind in some sort of process loop. Too many new things were present here _and_ seemed to be common knowledge, but Naruto had never dreamed of their existence. Of course, this wasn't helping his case with Sothe...if he was even noticing Naruto's inactivity.

The laguz had said _something_ while Naruto was in a daze, because Sothe had abandoned Micaiah's side just to kill them. His knife certainly had a knack of spilling various organs onto the precious metal underfoot.

Micaiah was using a new form of light, one that seemed to be gravity based. Somehow, I don't think tiger laguz are supposed to be able to stick their tails down their own throats. Whatever works, I suppose. Both Ilyana and Micaiah were standing on top of some of the taller piles of gold, as there were sizable gaps between piles, and a large distance to make up if they decided to go down the mound and up the other one. An airborne laguz was a sitting duck.

Nolan and Leo faced off against a tiger laguz, and the laguz quickly realised that Leo lacked the strength to do any real damage, and so it focused on Nolan. Nolan swung his axe horizontally, which the laguz easily dodged, and retaliated instantly. Nolan was sent face first into the solid rock wall, and had somehow managed to remain conscious. The laguz leaped towards his downed opponent, and Nolan made a last ditch effort to defend himself, raising his axe in front of his face. The laguz' face turned to one of horror, as its momentum cause it to fall into the axe, cleaving its face in two.

Edward and Aran were having trouble with a cat laguz. The cat suddenly dashed forward, and charged straight into Aran, lifting him slightly, and running straight for the wall. The laguz was intending to use Aran's body as a cushion against the wall, crushing him while remaining relatively unharmed. Edward saw what was going to happen, and did the one thing he could to stop it. He withdrew the sword he picked up from the unlucky horseman, and focused.

**Wind Edge.**

A greenish blade of energy flashed into being, and launched itself at Aran. It hit him, causing a savage cut to his side, but it knocked him out of the way of the charging laguz, who crashed into the wall. It climbed out of the small crater, shaking bits of debris away, when a sword flashed across its vision. It was the last memory the laguz possessed.

Sothe had just finished off the last laguz, who put up a rather pathetic fight considering he was shifted. It was over before any of the laguz were forced to revert to human form.

"Micaiah." Sothe said, while gesturing in the direction Yune had flown. Micaiah nodded, and Naruto went to take off after them. "No, you'll only slow us down." Sothe cut Naruto off.

"No he won't, Sothe." Micaiah interceded on Naruto's behalf. "He's faster than I am, and you need me to track that bird down."

Naruto's emotions flared briefly. They were chasing after that bloody bird. Then he remembered that the Kyuubi wanted Naruto to keep an eye on it, and that it was strange. Curiosity won out, and he resumed chasing the two figures.

.

They heard a beautiful song, and Micaiah rushed towards it, Sothe and Naruto following suit. They entered a room that contained two shifted wolves, and a white winged man.

And that..._bird_.

"Stay back Micaiah." Sothe placed himself in between her and the wolves, ready to fight should the need arise. Naruto slipped around to his left.

"Naruto! ? !" A vaguely familiar voice gasped behind him. It wasn't Micaiah, so who...?

Hinata rushed forward and gave him a bear hug.

Ok, let's get a few things straight here. Hinata had believed herself to be forever condemned in a world where no-one she knew existed, for almost a week. Then she saw Naruto, and the first thing she thought was 'Someone I know', and ran forward to embrace the person to ensure it wasn't just a phantom of her traitorous imagination. Also, the three travelling companions never conversed in a language she understood, and it was driving her insane. That would all change if this Naruto her eyes saw truly existed. Then she remembered who he was to her, a crush she could never confess her feelings to.

The result was Hinata immediately broke the embrace, and retreated to the far corner of the room, blushing furiously, but maintaining consciousness. Naruto looked completely dazed, and if his mind ran on windows, it would be showing a blue screen with big white words. 'Fatal error. Please reboot.' In fact, right after Hinata released him, he fell over, not even flinching once as his head bounced off the cold stones. It was all too much. Now the shy girl who followed him more than Sakura followed Sasuke was acting like a fangirl. No longer restricted to stalking, however a part of his mind registered that she did that rather well.

Then the last thing anyone expected happened.

Yune jumped off the white winged man's shoulder, and hopped over to Naruto...


	17. Wolves

**Wolves**

...And screeched in his ear.

Everyone squinted their eyes slightly to bear the pain. Except Naruto, who didn't even twitch.

Yune hopped around to Naruto's forehead, and pecked at the headband much like a woodpecker did. It checked his eyes every so often, but the bird seemed intent on returning him to the conscious plane.

Everyone just stared at the bird's bizarre activity.

"...Yune...?" Micaiah asked hesitantly. The bird looked at Micaiah, a questioning look in its eyes, then 'shrugged', and returned to pecking at the metal plate.

The wolves reverted to human form simultaneously.

"You're a heron prince." Sothe looked at the white winged man. "Rafiel, if I remember correctly."

Rafiel looked at the green haired youth. "I've never met you before in my life. How do you know of me?"

"Reyson spoke of you. Your family think you're dead." Sothe replied.

"Wait, are you implying that my family is still alive?" Reyson asked.

"Yes, residing in Gallia." Sothe nodded, finally relaxing his guard.

"You, beorc." The white wolf referred to Sothe. People who couldn't transform were called collectively as beorc. "What's the fastest route to Gallia?" She stood in front of him, looking at him with the authority of royalty.

Sothe was unshaken, as he cared little for figures of authority. They never helped him. "For a bunch of laguz, going through the countryside would be suicide. Anti-laguz sentiment runs high in Daein. No, skirt the border until you reach a smaller country by the name of Crimea. They're much more tolerant of your species." Sothe began.

"Why not go straight to Gallia?" The wolf demanded.

"For two reasons. One, the herons have a connection to their current queen, Elincia. Two, the Gallian guards probably wouldn't let you in without a reliable reference. I know of three people who could do that. One is the queen herself, but she is new to the throne, and has many other issues at the moment. A second would be the hawk king, Tibarn, but he resides in Phoenicis, an island far to the south. The last is your best bet, a beorc by the name of Ike." Sothe explained in length.

"Right, Ike again..." Micaiah's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Sothe took a deep breath with his eyes closed, and then exhaled, opening them. "He's one of the few beorc the laguz trust, as he fought beorc in order to save them in the war. Rather famous, too."

"AGH! DEMON BIRD!" Naruto suddenly yelled when he 'came to'. You couldn't blame him, really. All he saw in his groggy state was a giant bird in his face, and reacted accordingly.

So did Yune.

"OW! OW! DAMN IT BIRD!" Naruto tried everything he could to stop it from pecking his brains out, but that beak was as sharp as a senbon needle.

Micaiah sighed. "Yune." The bird flitted away from Naruto and perched on Micaiah's shoulder...tasting the blood?

_Ok, it's official. That bird is evil._ Naruto gazed at the object of his thoughts in horror as it appeared to be trying to get the blood on its beak into its mouth.

Then he remembered the reason he 'passed out' in the first place. He turned around.

"Hinata...?" Naruto asked, only to see the pale eyed girl fall flat on her face. That didn't look particularly healthy.

"Uh, should we continue this conversation somewhere else?" Naruto asked, gesturing towards Hinata.

Everyone else exchanged a few glances, including the bird, and all filed out, Naruto carrying Hinata over his shoulder.


	18. Allies

**Allies**

Naruto went to put Hinata down with Aimee's caravan, when she woke up again. Her face went so red from embarrassment, that if she had a cut on her face that was bleeding, you wouldn't have been able to see it. Naruto merely raised an eyebrow.

"Awake?" Naruto asked simply.

Hinata's face went a slight shade further, into purple, as she looked away.

Naruto sighed as he left the room.

Aimee however, entered it...

.

"So I feel we should help you in return." The white wolf said simply.

The conversation had been rather short and straightforward until this point, with the white wolf being revealed as Queen Nailah of the wolf laguz nation, Hatary, and Volug being her loyal retainer. Volug had difficulty conversing with beorc, and stayed quiet.

"I understand, but if laguz are seen with us, we may lose support of the people. Sad, but it's the way things are." Micaiah replied.

Volug spoke briefly to Nailah, and she smiled. "That's a wonderful idea." Volug shifted into his wolf state.

Sothe dashed in front of Micaiah, dagger drawn in an instant.

"Calm down." Nailah said with a little mirth. "It wouldn't seem so strange to have this dog at your side, now, would it?"

"Uh, excuse me?" Micaiah was curious. It _was_ a good idea, but Volug was almost as tall as a person, so the likelihood of people actually buying that story was slim.

"Don't worry, he's more than a match for any beorc." Nailah replied.

Micaiah frowned as she picked up another point of her statement. "How could you call Volug a dog?"

"True, he's not housetrained..." Nailah trailed off, looking thoughtful.

Micaiah palmed her forehead. "That's not what I meant..."

.

"We went north last time, which way do we go now?" Sothe asked.

Volug sniffed the air, and turned south. He barked several times.

"Beorc to the south, lots of them." Micaiah told the group.

"Sounds good to me." Nolan rubbed his chin. They all walked to the south.

.

A man in white armour stood at the only intact entrance to the run down castle, holding off several Begnion soldiers.

He grunted as he thrust the lance into yet another foe, and placed the heavy spear by his side. A light blue haired swordsman dressed in a loose purple cloak came out beside the man.

"You're looking as good as ever, Tauroneo." The swordsman stated, smiling.

"Hmph." The heavy armoured man replied with mirth. "Even so, this isn't going to end well. We're vastly outnumbered, and there's only so much one person can do."

"Yeah, and three can do a lot better, especially if you aren't talking!" A green wyvern descended from the skies, revealing a red armoured woman with hair the colour of blood. Natural, too.

"Sorry, Jill." The swordsman responded. "But non-stop fighting kinda gets to ya." The smile that was stuck to his face resembled that of a stupid man who just accomplished something.

Jill landed her wyvern on a Begnion soldier, and his dying screams penetrated the air.

"Ok, I'll shut up now." The swordsman said, wide eyed. The green lizard launched itself back into the sky.

_Hm, more people...Will this ever end?_ Jill thought as she turned her gaze northward.


	19. Comrades in arms

**Comrades in arms**

"Begnion forces...fighting?" Sothe squinted, trying to pick out who they were up against. An enemy of my enemy is a potential ally.

"Fighting three people." Micaiah filled in. If they had a valuable defensive line, it wasn't unfeasible that they could hold their ground against such numbers.

"Wait a second, that white armour...only specific generals in Daein were allowed to wear that style of armour. I very well may know him-" Sothe was cut off by Micaiah.

"Because of the war three years ago, and you met under Ike." Micaiah rolled her eyes as she said it.

Sothe stopped in front of her, turned around and glared at her angrily. "What is your problem with him, Micaiah?"

Micaiah returned his hard glare. "You praise him at every opportunity, and yet he's the reason Daein has to bow to Begnion! He might be a hero to you, but he's Daein's arch enemy. You need to understand that, Sothe."

Naruto stared at the couple, now ignoring Yune.

Yune was just as curious, and finally perched on Naruto's hand.

_What the...? Oh, perfect. Now all I need to do is catch the thing..._ Naruto slowly crept his other hand over, preparing to catch it.

But even though he had ninja stealth and (im)patience, he couldn't get a grip on the bird, who dodged at the last second and flitted over to Micaiah. The birds head was bobbing back and forwards, as if it was trying to stifle laughter.

_You cocky little pigeon...just you wait..._ Naruto narrowed his eyes at the bird, who actually burst out laughing at this point. It was an unsettling sight, actually.

The conversation between Micaiah and Sothe was broken by the bird's eerie laughter, and Sothe wrapped everything that was said with a single sentence. "Let's just help them out, alright?"

Micaiah nodded. This could be the group that the prince was supposedly trying to build, and she couldn't waste that chance, supporters of Ike or not.

.

Once the Dawn Brigade entered the fray, Sothe escorted Micaiah straight to the three defenders.

"...Sothe? Is that you?" Tauroneo asked, spear still held at the ready.

"Yeah. Are you with Begnion?" Sothe asked quickly.

Tauroneo settled into a ready stance. "...No."

Sothe pulled out a dagger, and threw it at a Begnion swordsman who attempted to attack Micaiah. "Good, we're allies then." Sothe ran off to defend the girl.

"Reinforcements...Fate's on our side today." Tauroneo whispered to himself.

.

"Zihark..." Ilyana stumbled towards the swordsman.

"Ilyana? I thought you were with a merchant caravan now...wait, did they kick you out because you ate through their wallets?" Zihark joked. His reply was a loud rumbling, generated by Ilyana's stomach. "Uh, I'll take that as a yes..." Zihark replied, remembering he didn't have any food.

A scream was heard particularly close to them, and Zihark turned around to find an axe embedded within an enemy soldier.

"Concentrate on your foes!" Jill yelled.

_Shit, am I gonna get an earful now..._ "We'll just have to catch up later, ok?" Zihark ran off.

Ilyana clutched her rumbling stomach. "Food..."

.

Volug needed help.

Fire magic clung to his fur, and he couldn't put it out without revealing what he was.

A strong gust of wind blew the flames out, and an axe landed at the mage's feet. He jumped back in surprise, and Volug struck.

While the mage was still in midair, albeit barely, Volug leaped towards him. With even less time to prepare, the mage tried desperately to evade the dripping jaws, but they closed around his head, and a loud crunch was heard. The nearly headless man dropped to the shifting sands.


	20. Pelleas

**Pelleas**

The mage Jill and Volug killed was the leader of the troops, and when they saw the brutality of that kill, they fled quickly.

The Dawn Brigade had gathered at the entrance to the castle, when a haggard old man walked out.

"Who are they? ! ? What do they want? ! ? Actually, will they join my liberation army? ? ?"

Tauroneo walked forward. "Izuka, this is Sothe, and I believe he will join the army."

"Sothe...the Dawn Brigade! Then...is that the silver haired maiden?" Izuka lunged forward with surprising speed, and placed himself about 2 inches from Micaiah, who glared hostilely at him. "Yes, it must be fate..." Izuka looked all over her face with a scrutinising eye, before he got an arm across his shoulders that shoved him backwards.

"Back off!" Sothe let the metal of his knife see sunlight.

Izuka ignored him. He was about to turn away regardless, but this caring young man saved him the effort. "Yes, and with such influential people under my command, deeds of the prince will spread like wildfire! We'll incite rebel movements across Daein, and build our power...Then we'll ask...no, DEMAND our country back! But why stop there...We could have a bit of Begnion for ourselves..." whatever else he would have said was lost in the rant. "Come, my pretties, and I'll show you how to free Daein!" Izuka ran inside, shouting.

Tauroneo sighed. "That man could try the patience of a rock..."

"He's...touched in the head, isn't he?" Sothe asked.

"He was one of Ashnard's surviving advisors. I'd be more surprised if he wasn't insane." Tauroneo informed.

"Thank Ashera he's not the prince." Micaiah shuddered.

"Well, we should meet the prince. Royalty normally don't like waiting." Naruto suggested, and they all went inside the building.

.

"You don't need to treat them nicely! They are your loyal subjects, ready to do your will!" Izuka yelled.

The Dawn Brigade, with Tauroneo, heard the man's ranting from the hallway.

"They are scheming against you!" The man ranted as he left the room. Sothe intercepted him as they walked past.

"You accuse us again, and we will leave. You hold no authority over us, we are volunteering our services. Know your place." Sothe deadpanned, and walked on.

.

"So you are the people Izuka was talking about." A gentle voice spoke.

"Yes, your majesty, they are." Tauroneo bowed.

"There is no need to stand on ceremony, general." The man replied calmly.

"Wow, you're not what I expected at all." Naruto said a little cheerfully. It mirrored the thoughts from most of the Dawn Brigade.

"Yes, well I was an orphan, people looked at me as if I was nothing important, and I thought life was pointless. Now my life isn't pointless, and I want to ensure that nobody feels the same way if I can help. And it's all thanks to Izuka."

"...I...see..." Naruto said slowly, because realisation truly had dawned on him. This man was just like him, all alone until Izuka. He looked away.

"Are you ok?" Micaiah asked Naruto.

"...Yeah, I just have a few things to think about." Naruto responded, and left the room deep in thought.

"Was it something I said?" The prince asked.

"Probably. Naruto hasn't really told us about his past, but his intentions are good." Micaiah responded.

"Oh! I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Pelleas." The prince said quickly.

The group introduced themselves, always referring to Pelleas as the prince, which annoyed him to no end. He didn't speak up about it though.

"I'm gonna check up on Naruto, I'm worried." Micaiah started towards the door.

"Not alone." Sothe followed her.

.

.

I have a few things I need to get done, but I've written out another 7 chapters. After this week, updates might be a little slower, just warning everyone.

Senge.


	21. Behind the scenes

**Behind the scenes**

Elincia's advisor, Bastian, had heard something fishy was in Daein. He wished to investigate it himself, but he was badly needed on his own turf.

"I need you to advise me on how I rule, I am still new to this position, and I need the people to accept me." Elincia told him.

_That's right, the 'other' reason I have to leave..._ Bastian thought to himself. "I understand that, my liege, however such a valiant foe must be observed, preferably on the inside. The threat they may represent could be greater than that of your people." Bastian...explained.

Elincia closed her eyes in concentration, trying to decipher what Bastian said, and his hidden meaning. Bastian always had an unhealthy amount of secrets. "Bastian, I don't think you go. You're the only person that keeps the senators in check."

"Ah, so you have also seen the senate's hostility towards thy genteel majesty." Bastian flourished with a bow. Elincia slapped her forehead, trying to distract her impeding headache. "Even though you shall dislike it, I believe that such a unique experience will assist in your goal to command this nation, and guide it towards your lofty goals."

Elincia waved him off lazily. "Just go, then. Fetch a healer on the way out, and send a message every week."

"I thank you, my generous queen." Bastian left the room. _Works every time, make yourself incredibly annoying and people will let you do whatever you want, just to be rid of you._ Bastian smirked. _I merely mask it as political capability._

.

The Hokage had drunk herself senseless. Where the hell had they gone? Two days ago, Naruto had returned to the village, and yesterday, 8 ninja were gone. And the strange blue flames that had replaced them? What exactly were they? They didn't have any connection to either chakra _or_ nature, and couldn't be sealed. Iruka barged in through the door.

"Lord Hokage! I found the connection between the missing ninja!" Iruka exclaimed.

This roused the Hokage from her drunken depression. "What is it? ! ?"

"It's the graduating class from 4 years ago, all 8." Iruka explained.

"Perhaps all 9...Contact Orochimaru and ask if Sasuke is also absent. It's a vital piece of information to this puzzle." Tsunade said soberly.

"But-" Tsunade glared at him. "Yes, lord Hokage." Iruka muttered in defeat.

.

"Where is Sasuke! ? !" Orochimaru demanded

A shaking servant came in from the door. "Uh, my lord, he's missing." He said fearfully. "Blue flames were scattered throughout his room."

His fears were well founded, as his blood was used as a new coat of paint for his room.

"A message from...sigh...do I need to force another one of our ninja to be your servant?" Kabuto asked.

"The message. Has it been decoded yet?" Orochimaru asked.

"No, it wasn't coded in the first place. It's from Konoha." Kabuto replied. He handed it over. "Do you think it's a trap, my lord?"

"Probably. We're leaving for Konoha."

Kabuto blinked, and followed Orochimaru out of the room.

.

.

Yes, time in Konoha still flows normally as well. The next chapter will be a bit weird, but chapters like the next one won't happen often. Will update tomorrow.


	22. True colours

I warned you before, and I'll warn you again. This chapter is strange, and is not necessary for the storyline.

.

.

**True colours**

Naruto had walked back to Aimee's caravan. He heard a snippet of a conversation.

"And it helps if you put your arms under your breasts like this." Aimee said, sounding like a teacher.

_Whoa, wait a sec, what! ? !_ Naruto remembered something Sothe said on the long road.

(FLASHBACK)

"Sothe, why do you hide from Aimee every time she looks in our direction?" Naruto asked.

"You have no idea what she is. Have you heard of guys stalking girls day after day?" Sothe asked. Naruto nodded, thinking of Orochimaru. "Well, this is a woman version, and she's a lot scarier, especially on the receiving end of her attention. She's caused a platoon of battle scarred veterans to run in terror, I watched it firsthand."

Naruto blinked. How could it be that bad?

(END FLASHBACK)

_I wonder who she's talking to..._ Naruto wondered, but decided to start moving away.

"Like this?" Hinata asked.

_Wait, Hinata? Why would she...?_ Naruto crossed off a mental checklist. _Me? ! ? _Naruto backed away slowly from the caravan. Far too slowly.

The caravan's door opened, and the two occupants walked out. Naruto froze, if he didn't move, they wouldn't see him.

Or so he hoped.

.

Two minutes later...

Naruto was running frantically, desperate to evade one psychopathic stalker, and one recently turned nymphomaniac. They may have got his shirt, but he'd be damned if they got anything else.

This was what Micaiah saw when she found Naruto.

"I warned him." Sothe said with sympathy. It was one of the few times Sothe hadn't felt suspicious of the boy.

"Why don't we help him?" Micaiah asked her partner.

"And get in the way of that? ! ? Are you crazy?" Sothe looked at her like she'd grown a second head.

"We don't have to get in the way." Micaiah explained calmly. "I could set of a light flare..." She suggested.

"And bring the entire dawn brigade running?" Sothe asked.

"Hmm...good point." Micaiah conceded.

They watched Naruto get chased for another half a minute.

"He seems to be getting away from them." Sothe looked on curiously. The distance was increasing slowly.

He led them rather close to the caravan, and Aimee suddenly aborted the chase. Hinata followed suit once she realised Aimee was gone.

"...huff...You...huff...bast...ards...wheeze..." Naruto gasped in front of Micaiah and Sothe.

"You know, it seems kinda callous, but I warned you." Sothe had a thin grin on his face. Unless you were looking for it, you wouldn't see it.

Micaiah's eyes widened when she saw something on Naruto.


	23. Cursed with a blessing

Now, on a more normal note...

.

.

**Cursed with a Blessing**

"Naruto, what's that mark on your stomach?" Micaiah asked.

Naruto visibly tensed, and his emotions went from mildly annoyed to something that resembled a cornered beast. "Don't tell me you're gonna bash me as well, after all this time!" Naruto barked.

Micaiah took a step back. She'd never witnessed such hostility from the kid. Sothe instantly placed himself in front of her. "Sothe, wait. Naruto, does that mark have anything to do with how you acted in front of Pelleas?" She asked inquisitively.

Naruto looked confused. "Pelleas?"

_Oh, that's right. He already left by the time we introduced ourselves properly._ "The prince." Micaiah supplied.

"Oh. Partly. I'm also an orphan, you see, and everyone shunned me, didn't even acknowledge my existence. Because all they saw in me, was this." Naruto pointed at the seal.

Micaiah misread this, because a similar mark showed split beorc/laguz heritage, and they also didn't have the right to exist. Micaiah pulled up her sleeve, and showed him the tattoo on her wrist. "Our group doesn't discriminate like that, but it was wise to hide it regardless. Here, every person is equal. The world may only see that mark, but we show our strength by protecting it anyway. You're a stronger person than we thought, Naruto."

Sothe had a new found respect for Naruto. He didn't lash out against him when he held him at a knife point, when he almost killed him in the prison, when he called him a traitor, and even when he made his suspicions cloud his actions towards him. In the end, he was merely a misunderstood boy, who had a desire for friendship. "Naruto, I'm sorry for my actions towards you. I didn't understand."

It was difficult for Sothe to say it, as he normally wouldn't have cared about it. But he shared something with Micaiah, something that she had to keep secret for many years. And as a result, he wouldn't judge a person by something they had no control over.

"Do you...know your lineage?" Micaiah asked hesitantly. She didn't know her own, and any information on the subject would be useful.

"All I have is my family name, and I'm unsure if my family still exists. I know almost nothing about either of my parents." Naruto replied.

"Oh...Does that mark give you any special abilities?" Micaiah asked again. She needed to know what he could do if the situation called for it.

"Yeah, I have two. The first could almost be called regeneration, I've been able to regenerate a punctured lung before." Sothe's mouth almost dropped open, but he maintained his composure. "And the second, if I experience extreme emotion, then I fall into a berserker state. You don't want to be anywhere near me when that happens." Naruto finished sadly.

"I also have unique abilities, Naruto." Micaiah tried to cheer him up. "I can sacrifice my own health to heal another."

"So, what happened to Edward back in Nevassa was..." Naruto put the links together.

"Yes, that was my gift. I can also see all possible futures for an event, and that is nothing short of horrifying." Micaiah explained.

Naruto understood that, surprisingly. Witnessing all the worst possible outcomes would weigh heavily on your mind.

A man garbed in purple found the three of them. "Duty calls..." Zihark sighed.


	24. Chain of command

**Chain of command**

"Come, come my pretties, and I will show you the genius of Daein!" Izuka cackled.

Naruto's eye twitched. As important as he was to the prince, he had an incredibly annoying personality. Micaiah closed her eyes in concentration, whereas Sothe held his cold, emotionless face.

"First, we attack Talrega. The Empire's hold is weak there, and should be easily broken. If we win over an entire village to our cause, we may be able to incite rebel movements, causing mass confusion within the Begnion forces." Izuka continued with uncharacteristic mildness.

Micaiah's eyes suddenly snapped open. "Talrega's no good. The blizzards will impede our march substantially, and we'll be sitting ducks."

"Then where do you suggest, hmm? ! ?" Izuka was back to his old self.

"Terin. We'll have better luck in Terin." Micaiah told him.

"Hmm, the weather is more predictable, and it's also a border town..." Tauroneo commented.

"Argh! How could a mere child outsmart me? ! ?" Izuka demanded.

"Micaiah is a powerful seer, the Dawn Brigade owe our lives and freedom to her abilities." Sothe placed himself between Micaiah and Izuka.

Izuka blinked. "Oh, how wonderful. She can predict the outcome of battle? Hm...This just makes her that much more desirable...If I make her commander, then-"

"She'll collapse under the responsibility." Sothe cut him off. "She's only taken care of 7 people consistently at most. To thrust a whole regiment on her powers would crush her."

Pelleas spoke up. "She doesn't necessarily need to use those unique gifts, but she should be in a position where no-one could question her should she decide to." He spoke persuasively.

"Micaiah, we can't live as the focus of attention." Sothe warned.

"I'm finished running, Sothe. I'll do it." Micaiah said with determination.

Sothe looked shocked, his mask of calm shattered. Pelleas gave a warm smile, and Izuka smirked evilly. Micaiah hadn't finished, however.

"But not for the prince. I know about the dangers that lurk behind a pretty face." Pelleas looked hurt. _Either he's really good at acting, or that's his genuine personality._ She thought. "No, I do this for Daein." She turned on her heel, and left the room, leaving a shocked Izuka, a confused Pelleas, a thoughtful Tauroneo and a seething Sothe behind.

.

"Whoa, you look angry." Naruto commented as Micaiah came towards him.

"Our 'prince' has just placed me in command of his whole army." Micaiah fumed. She needed to help this army, but now all anyone would see would be the seer.

"Oh..." Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're one of the few people who were nice to me. I'll help you anyway I can, Micaiah." Naruto said seriously.

Sothe walked towards them. Anger flashed briefly across his face, but was replaced by worry.

"Micaiah, you don't have to do this." Sothe told her.

"Sothe, this is the only chance we have of making a real difference. I can't walk out on Daein now." Micaiah replied.

"Even if it means sacrificing a part of yourself?" Sothe asked gently.

"I do it enough anyway." She responded.

Sothe's face showed only concern. _Micaiah...please be the same person when this is all over..._


	25. Army's march

**Army's march**

"So far so good." Edward whispered to Leo.

"You idiot. Everyone knows that as soon as you comment on how well things are going, it always goes pear shaped." Leo muttered angrily.

"Yeah, whatever. We haven't even been spotted yet." Edward replied with a smirk.

"AMBUSH!" One of the soldiers yelled out.

"Don't say it..." Edward warned.

"As long as you know." Leo replied.

.

Naruto was up the front, and seeing flying horses set him on edge. What the hell was up with this place?

Regardless, he grabbed a handful of shuriken, and hurled them at one. Only one or two actually hit the pegasus, but the metallic clanging when they hit the ground unveiled another ambush squad.

Naruto noticed a green wyvern zooming towards the pegasi, and decided to let her handle those things. He was much better suited to a ground battle.

Zihark ran alongside him. "I heard you were a lucky kid, but I didn't expect this." He referred to the chaos that was the enemy's second ambush squad.

"Eh, what can I say? Make use of your gifts." Naruto replied with a shrug.

With the cruel edge of Zihark's blade, and the practiced precision of Naruto, the squad of 6 was brought down in a very one-sided battle.

"Let's go back, they know we're here." Zihark suggested.

"Yeah..." Naruto went to run back, but quietly slowed down, and Zihark ran off. Naruto turned around, and ran back along the path to Terin. He just couldn't shake that feeling that something really bad was about to happen.

.

"Micaiah, they were waiting for us." Zihark reported. "Naruto and I found an ambush party by accident, and I suspect they'll be many more."

"Ok, so where is Naruto?" Micaiah asked.

Zihark's eyes widened, and he turned around. "He was right here..."

Micaiah closed her eyes in concentration. Then they snapped open. "Damn it! Sothe, we have to move, now!"

Sothe had never seen Micaiah have such a forceful reaction to a vision before. _What's Naruto about to do?_

Micaiah was having other thoughts. _That was __**way**__ too much blood. And what was that shape in the middle? That's the first time a vision's ever been fuzzy. Please let me make it there in time..._

.

Naruto stumbled out of the trees. Mountain air was thinner, and several skirmishes had taken its toll. Even though his wounds had healed, blood loss was still a factor, and he had enough of his own covering him to make a substantial difference.

_Teach them to think I'm easy prey...but still, I'm not as good as I thought I was._ Naruto thought sadly. Then he looked up, and saw cavalry, ballistae and standard soldiers, all in rank and file.

He sluggishly sidestepped an oversized bolt. He still couldn't shake that strange feeling. He looked back to the tree line, and found himself surrounded._ Yeah Naruto, really clever._


	26. Unique

**Unique**

A spearman charged towards him, along with two others. The first spearman lunged at him, but Naruto batted the spear away with his left hand, and kicked the shaft with his right foot. The spear came out of his hands, and the butt end crushed his windpipe. Naruto stepped forward quickly, and used his kunai to slash his throat. No sense in prolonging his agony.

He then withdrew three shuriken from the pouch, and threw it at his second foe. The spearman slowed down to avoid the ninja stars, which left his third opponent alone for a few seconds, which was all Naruto needed.

The third man stabbed his lance at Naruto, who grabbed it and yanked on the pole. The man came tumbling towards him, which let Naruto use his knee to smash into the man's face. Naruto followed it up with a kick to the same area, causing the man to let go of the spear. Naruto promptly stabbed it towards his heart, and he felt something crunch. Another one down.

Naruto turned to his last foe, when he heard a whistling noise. A very familiar knife flew through the air, and hit the last soldier in his left eye.

Sothe and Micaiah burst from the trees. Both had some blood on them, but they hadn't seen anywhere near as many battles in the forest. The foes blocking his retreat were dead and dying.

As Sothe went to retrieve his knife, Micaiah took it upon herself to scold the boy.

"What were you thinking going off alone? ! ? I don't care how good your regeneration is, a deathblow will still kill you!"

"I can't go...I'm not finished here..." Naruto replied, strangely detached.

Sothe looked at him. This was unlike Naruto, normally so cheerful and blunt.

"Micaiah...step back. Naruto's not himself." Sothe said barely loud enough for them both to hear.

Micaiah's mind flashed through her vision, and she did indeed step back.

"Put down your weapons, or the prisoners get it! ! !" Someone from the enemy side yelled.

"Micaiah?" Sothe asked.

"...Put them down." She replied. Naruto, Sothe and Micaiah all put their weapons down.

"We don't need the prisoners, then, do we? Kill them all!" the same figure yelled.

Several horses came and stole the prisoners, but that last sentence stuck in Naruto's head.

.

"Kyuubi." Naruto stood before the demon with a hard, cold face.

"_**That human enraged you." **_It responded

"I'm too weak to do anything right now. I'm on my last legs. I need your power." Naruto said blandly.

"_**Hmph." **_A sinister smile crossed the fox's face. _**"I don't see any problem with spreading some fear. Show them MY wrath."**_ The Kyuubi sent a wave of energy across to Naruto.

.

A sudden wave of energy radiated from Naruto, and he was covered in a red aura.

Shielding his eyes, Sothe almost yelled to Micaiah. "What is _THAT_? ! ? ! ?"

"...My vision...so this was what I couldn't see..." Micaiah stated calmly into the billowing winds.

_What? ! ? Couldn't see? ! ?_ Sothe stared at Naruto wide eyed. He glanced back at Micaiah, and noticed something even stranger. "Uh, Micaiah?"

Micaiah looked at him, and Sothe tapped his own shoulder. Micaiah glanced at Yune, and was rewarded with a...scary sight. Yune was staring at the demonic form, with a gleam that could be related to lust. Sothe and Micaiah looked at each other again.

"As of this moment, that never happened." Sothe stated.

"Agreed." Micaiah finished. They both returned to watching Naruto.

"_**Your judgement is upon you."**_ Naruto's voice carried with little effort, considering he was the centre of the gale force winds. His canine teeth had elongated, his whisker marks thickened, and his nails lengthened into claws.

Naruto walked forward slowly. He was in control of the body, but the fox was in control of the wild chakra flailing around him.

_Put a shape of your face above me. Let them tremble in fear._ Naruto thought. It happened.

One soldier faced the monster before him, and raised his weapon in fear. Naruto pointed his hand towards the ground, and the red aura concentrated at his fist, then surged forward into the ground. It reappeared at the man's feet, and grasped him. It flew through the air for another 2 seconds, then returned to the ground. After a silent 10 seconds, the chakra limb once again resurfaced, throwing the dismembered man before the apparent commander of these Begnion forces.

The soldiers merely watched on in horror. They couldn't move, and it would have been pointless anyway. The incarnation of fury walked _on_ the river, and started walking towards the commander.

A ballista fired at Naruto, and he plucked the thick bolt out of the air. After saturating it with his chakra, he hurled it back at the ballista, which shattered on impact, sending shrapnel everywhere.

He reached the commander, and the man was frozen with fear. _**"You callously order the deaths of innocents? It is those with blood on their hands that deserve to die, such as you. Forget prayer, you are condemned to the abyss."**_ The Kyuubi focused the chakra around Naruto's right hand, forming a blood red rasengan.

The raging chakra pulled Naruto's hand towards his target, and an unearthly grinding noise resonated through the air. Blood was sent everywhere, painting the grass with its rich colour.

His horse ran away from the blood, and it broke the trance on the opposing forces. They started to retreat, but Naruto pursued them.

"_**You brought this upon yourselves."**_ Naruto landed in the middle of the panicked soldiers, and his chakra turned into dozens of hooked spikes, which tore into the ranks of men. Strangely, not a single horse was injured.

"This was the scene from my vision." Micaiah recalled. Sothe just silently observed the situation.

The red aura began to fade back into Naruto's body. His vision doubled, and he felt his face hit something hard, though it didn't hurt. Naruto passed out as his wounds bled anew.

.

.

A small note, Naruto only went two-tailed, no further. I decided that blood loss would be Naruto's major weakness in my story, as the manga explains that he has hyper healing, but nothing (I remember) about blood loss. If I missed that, and he also does regenerate blood, let me know, but it will be Naruto's weakness in this story regardless.

As for how he performed the rasengan, it was because the rasengan is pure chakra, something the ninja's can still manipulate. Handsigns are what doesn't work here.

I would like people to give me their idea of Naruto having the weakness of blood loss as well. I feel he has to have some exploitable weakness, and if he could just regenerate _anything_ then he would be slightly superpowered. I want Naruto to be strong, but not ridiculously so.

Also, in my fic, drawing on the Kyuubi's power will reverse the healing effect, so it truly is a last resort for Naruto. Otherwise he would just 'Kyuubify' and destroy everything whenever he goes into battle. Again, I would like to hear people's thoughts on this.

In case anyone's wondering, the Kyuubi is _not_ friends with Naruto, he is merely using him to understand how the world works.

Next chapter up in two days.


	27. Banquet

**Banquet**

Edward, Leo and Tauroneo found Micaiah and Sothe trying to fix Naruto amidst the bloodbath.

"What...What in Ashera's name happened?" Tauroneo glanced at some of the horrific wounds inflicted on both Naruto and several soldiers in red armour.

"I think we found out that when Naruto gets stuck between a rock and a hard place, he blasts both to bits." Sothe replied.

"Wait, this was Naruto...?" Edward asked, shocked.

"If you thought this was bad, you should see the two bodies over there." Sothe pointed in the direction of the late commander.

Leo, however, asked a different question. "These wounds seem older that the ones on the enemy. If that's true, then how's he still alive?"

Micaiah finally spoke up. "He has abnormal healing. Whatever he used to fight these people with has slowed it right down. Where's Laura? I need help." Edward ran off.

"The battle's over. Will he live?" Tauroneo asked hesitantly.

"Depends on how fast Laura gets here, and how drained he is. You didn't see what he did, it was something else..." Micaiah was trying to keep him alive, but there was only so much she could safely do.

"May the goddess have mercy..." Tauroneo prayed.

.

Naruto woke up in a small, dark room. He sat up, but his head spun, and he fell sideways onto the hard stone floor.

_Ow, my head...why does it hurt so much?_ He thought. He blinked. _Hey, I'm hungry...food..._

Naruto fought the urge to just lie down again, and began to stumble down the hallway.

.

Lit candles lined the walkway now. It was night time, but Naruto had no clue as to how late it was. He could hear voices now, but that could easily have been his imagination. He's been walking for ages, and the only sign that he wasn't lost was the candles themselves.

He turned the corner, to find several castle tables laden with food. There was a strange semi-circle that had no food at all, and a slender girl was at the centre of it. Ilyana, that was her name.

"He's alive!" Someone shouted. Naruto didn't recognise the voice.

"Our hero!" Another yelled. Again, not one he knew.

It took him a while, but Naruto eventually realised they were talking about him.

"I'm no hero..." Naruto said to himself. Somehow, someone nearby heard him. A faceless soldier walked up to him.

"Not a hero, you say? You single handedly brought down an entire Begnion regiment, one who had been terrorising the locals, even if it meant your own death? We heard the story from the silver haired maiden, how you were filled with Ashera's own wrath, and used her judgement to send those heartless murderers into the bottomless depths of hell, despite your own horrendous injuries. If that's not a hero, then what is?" The man said the whole speech loud enough for everyone to hear.

Naruto looked at Micaiah and Sothe. Micaiah winked at him with a smile, and Sothe looked to the side, but the edge of his mouth curved upwards. He was finally getting the attention he desperately sought. Naruto said the most intelligent thing anyone could in his situation. "Man, I'm starving. Let's eat!"

He had to do _something_ to shut up his stomach.

Cheers erupted from the gathered soldiers and commoners, as their hero stepped down to be just like them.

.

Choji first thought he was having the best dream ever. He was under a massive stone table, almost sagging from the weight of the food on top. Then he realised it was a nightmare. People were eating that food, and some were eating it as fast as he could.

That, and they all had tails.

He hadn't even taken a bite yet, this was by far the strangest dreams he'd ever had. Sure, he'd had dreams about eating loads of food, and dreams of other people eating his food, but tails? That was new.

"AHHH! BEORC!" Someone yelled. Choji blinked, and checked his rear. No tail. Ok, he was probably the cause of the uproar, but it would help if they spoke his language. What the hell did 'beorc' mean?

Choji was chased out from under the table. The large crown quickly had him cornered.

"You speak _human_ tongue?" The woman spat.

"Uh, yes...?" Choji realised these people were incredibly hostile towards him.

"Why you here?" The woman scowled at him, along with the rest of the crowd.

Choji's mind went through a couple of plausible answers. Of course the one Choji decided to go with just had to be... "The food. I'm here for the food.

Several of the tailed people blinked. But the woman in question was not to be persuaded.

"Leave. NOW!"

A loud roar was heard from the entryway. A red, majestic lion walked slowly in.

"What's all this commotion! ? !" He demanded.

"Beorc spy." The woman hissed back.

The lion looked Choji up and down. "He's a mere child, even by beorc standards." The lion glowed blue as he stood up. "What's your name?"

"Choji, sir." He replied politely.

"Ah, you show no hatred towards us. I'm king Caineghis of Gallia. What can I do for you?" The lion asked.

"Please let me eat, your majesty. I'm starving." Choji used the old, patented puppy eyes. Not that he needed them, but it didn't hurt.

Caineghis shook his head with a smile. "Only a laguz could think of his stomach at a time like this...Yes, Choji, you may eat. Welcome to my castle, brother."

The castle was shocked speechless. Only two other beorc had the honour of being referred to as the king's brother, and they had been Greil, and his son, Ike.

Choji kept up with the laguz' eating contests, and earned many friends that night.


	28. Planning revolution

**Planning revolution**

"...And we use poison, to watch the enemy slowly die." Izuka outlined his ridiculous plan.

"I'm curious." Sothe began with an annoyed air. "What poison would not affect the people of Daein, and yet kill all the Begnion soldiers?"

"..." Izuka blinked.

"Yeah, you really thought that one through." Sothe then ignored Izuka. "Micaiah?"

"Distraction. Tauroneo leads the most resilient troops to lay siege to the prison, and the original Dawn Brigade rush in and free the prisoners. After everyone gets out, we blow the place up, killing all the soldiers." Micaiah stated calmly.

Everyone just looked at her.

"They get what they give." She shrugged.

Naruto and Pelleas had the same thought. _So many people dying because of where they were...what a waste._

"One question, Micaiah. Where are we going to get the explosives?" Sothe asked innocently.

He was rewarded with an evil grin.

.

Point to self, never doubt Micaiah.

She can see the future, and can be sadistic or cruel when she wants to.

Sothe was beginning to wonder how she'd managed to swindle _Aimee_ out of such obviously valuable merchandise, but he wasn't going to ask.

Yune chirped happily as Micaiah wandered closer to the Dawn Brigade.

"Ok, The nine of us will enter the compound, set the explosives, free the captives, and watch the place go up in flames. Any questions?" Micaiah outlined the plan for their team. Yune jumped up onto Micaiah's shoulder, and seemed to be grinning evilly. Both Sothe and Naruto dived to the ground the moment they saw Yune's face.

"Uh, how do we light the explosives?" Aran asked.

"_You_ won't. But I have it all planned out, don't worry." Micaiah replied.

Strangely, no-one did worry. Micaiah got explosives against all odds, so if she said the place was going kaboom, the place was going kaboom.

.

The plan was going without a hitch. Micaiah, Edward, Leo, Nolan, Volug and Aran were protecting Sothe and Naruto. Sothe was picking the prison locks, and Naruto was setting the explosives. Laura was healing people as necessary. The prison guards eventually noticed them, being massively shorthanded, but proved to be almost no threat.

They came in ones and twos, easy to take down by the now more elite Dawn Brigade, and 6 on 2 was a nice change in odds. Normally the Daein forces were ridiculously outnumbered, and were on the outside of the prison.

.

Outside the prison, but away from the fighting...

"Is this the building Sothe's in?" A man with red hair asked. A man in the age sense only, he was short, and often childish. His cape matched the colour of his hair, and was clothed simply.

"Yes, Tormod, I believe so." A tiger laguz responded. He had a serene face, one that radiated wisdom. A raven laguz remained silent.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tormod ran off.

The _four_ of them followed the little man...

.

.

20k words! Hope everyone enjoys the story.

Senge.


	29. Reunion

**Reunion**

"SOTHE! ! !" A voice yelled over the small battle.

"Bloody loudmouth...Tormod?" Sothe dashed over to his friend.

"Hey, you traitor!" Tormod said with a smile.

Sothe didn't see it though. "What do you mean?" Sothe asked, concern showing on his face.

"You grew! Too tall!" Tormod replied.

Sothe really didn't need this. "And I expected you to make sense...What about that thing I asked you?"

"Too many prying ears." If Tormod was going to say anything else, he was cut off by Micaiah.

"Ah, perfect timing. Whoever you are, come with me." She pointed at Tormod, and walked off.

Tormod blinked. "Uh, Sothe?"

"Ah, I see...Tormod, go with her, I'll get everyone else out." Sothe replied, and ran off.

"Why do I have a feeling this is gonna be both incredibly stupid, and pretty damn awesome at the same time?" Tormod asked himself.

.

Micaiah and Tormod joined the rest of the Dawn Brigade outside the prison.

"Uh, Micaiah? That place is still intact..." Sothe questioned her.

"10...9..." She said with a childlike grin on her face. Everyone stared at the building with anticipation. "2...1...BOOM!" She cheered.

Not even a puff of smoke.

"Na-ru-to!" Micaiah turned to him.

"Hey, I did exactly what you told me to! Don't blame me!" Naruto took a step back.

KA-BOOM!

Several sections of wall crumbled, and the roof sagged slightly. Then, all of a sudden, the structure collapsed.

Tormod whistled. "Caught a winner here, Sothe."

"It's not like that!" Sothe barked back. "Remember three years ago? How I always said there was someone I was looking for? It was Micaiah..." Sothe finished quietly.

"...Oh." Tormod realised what Sothe meant. Those two were as close as brother and sister.

"It...It really is you, Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed. "Wow, I didn't even notice until that white haired chick said your name!"

Micaiah twitched slightly. "Are you saying I'm old...?"

"About time someone _else_ became Yune's beak bluntener..." Naruto said softly.

"Naruto, for once, I agree with you." Micaiah smiled evilly. Payback was a sadistic bastard.

"What the hell is a 'Yune'?" Kiba asked.

_Oh, he made it too easy..._ Naruto thought. "Yune is a bird that caused me to pass out from blood loss, and you know how fast I regenerate..."

"What! ? ! Demon bird!" Kiba said the two taboo words together.

Yune zoomed towards the ninja, and began to peck his brains out.

"ARGH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" Kiba yelled frantically, waving his arms around in a futile attempt to protect himself.

"It's no use, you cannot beat the bird." Naruto responded sagely, then burst out laughing. It was much funnier when it happened to someone else. "Ok Yune, you can leave him alone now."

Yune looked as if it was scowling at Naruto, and then gave a look towards Kiba that resembled something like 'it's not over'. Yune flitted lightly back to Micaiah.

"So, what happened to you since we got here?" Naruto asked.

"Eh, not much. I met up with these guys in some burnt out forest, and followed them. They noticed me almost instantly, but I was able to make friends with them. After a lot of walking, and a couple of skirmishes, here we are." Kiba explained.

"Lucky sod...I'm in this army's elite strike force. I'll fill you in later." Naruto looked back towards the collapsed building. "Nothing quite like a job well done." He smiled.


	30. Rumours

**Rumours**

Bastian observed the small camp of Daein soldiers. They were an elite group, of that he was sure. How else could they fight off so many Begnion troops time after time?

There was a real problem, however. The prince's intentions were noble, and the first thing the Crimean nobles will want to do is crush them. No, this needs to be protected from their clouded ideals. Peace was truly an option here, and this prince even had laguz in his army.

The queen was going to love this report.

.

"Commander! We heard rumours that the Begnion soldiers are gathering all the prisoners at Shifu Swamp, and are planning a mass execution! What are we going to do?" A soldier asked.

"Don't worry, Daein's banner will rise in that swamp, I'll see to it." Micaiah replied, and walked towards Izuka's tent.

.

"I've not heard of such a rumour. It could be a fake, or worse, a trap! I cannot allow you to put our army in such peril!" Izuka ranted.

Micaiah smiled. "And that's why only me and my friends will go. If we succeed, we have a lot more people ready to fight, and if we lose, it's not much of a loss for you or Pelleas."

"But-" Izuka began.

"Let them go, Izuka." Pelleas walked into the tent. "Micaiah has never led the army wrong yet. I trust her."

"These _children_ are running your army!" Izuka protested.

"Oh, _Pelleas'_ army now, is it?" Sothe was looking for Micaiah, and walked in at the perfect moment.

(Flashback)

"Who are they? ! ? And will they join my army?" Izuka referred to Tormod and his little group.

"They will join _Daein's_ army if I ask them. They're my friends." Sothe replied.

"Laguz...they're powerful...just what this army needs...Go and convince them to join us, and make sure you don't screw it up!" Izuka yelled.

"Whatever." Sothe walked off.

(Flashback end)

"Let's go Micaiah." Sothe walked out.

"Right." Micaiah said monotonously, and followed him.

.

"Hey, Tormod!" Sothe yelled, looking for his old friend. Tormod appeared from the tent to his side. "Wow, that was quick."

"Sothe! What do you need me for?" Tormod responded with a large smile on his face.

Sothe mirrored his smile. "Two things. One, what about Begnion? Does the Apostle know what's going on?"

"Suspicions were all she had." Tormod's face became serious. "With my visit, she's been given a reason to investigate, and she knows the games the senators play. Right now, I'd say she's ripping into them for even a shred of info. What about the other thing you wanted to ask me? You only asked me to look into one thing."

Sothe's face became as cold as a statue.


	31. Fears

**Fears**

"I need your help." Sothe told him.

"Uh, sure?" Tormod didn't understand what he was saying, and not ashamed of it either. Sothe was making about as much sense as Tormod normally did.

"We're about to try and set a lot of captives free, but the chances of it being a trap are incredibly high. Can we count on you?" Sothe asked again.

"Ah. Sure, you can count on me! Muarim, Vika!...Uh, where's Vika?" Tormod looked around, as did Muarim.

"I don't know where the raven went, little one." Muarim told him. Tormod blinked, then ran off.

"Tormod? Tormod! Damn it..." Sothe ran after him. It had been 6 months since he'd seen him, and he wanted to catch up.

"Sothe seems so happy...he's normally so serious..." Micaiah mused aloud.

"Be careful, comments like that reveal your true age." Muarim warned.

"Oh no..." Micaiah's hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide with fear.

"Do not fear, your secret's safe with me. However, take care in the future." Muarim assured her.

"I've known him since he was a little boy, and I've never seen him so happy." Micaiah lost herself in the memories. "I tried to distance myself from him, so he wouldn't feel my pain, my inheritance. But once I did, I realised what I'd lost."

"Hmm, the first decision I've heard that was both wise _and_ foolish." He looked her in the eyes. "You have no footsteps to follow, so create a new path." He walked off.

_...Thank you._ Micaiah thought to herself.

.

Sothe was still looking for his elusive friend.

Sothe glanced at the lake, and a sliver of red caught his eye. On closer inspection, Tormod was sitting with Vika on the edge of the lake. Sothe quietly left his two friends alone.

The conversation was nowhere near as romantic as the setting.

"...and then we noticed you'd gone." Tormod summed up the events that Vika could have missed.

"...The silver haired girl...she scares me on some primal level. It took everything I had not to run away from the camp screaming." Vika admitted.

"You've never behaved like that before." Tormod said curiously.

"There's something really strange about that woman, and I don't want to find out what it is." Vika said fearfully. Tormod could only stare.

.

"So, Kiba, have you worked out how to use any jutsu?" Naruto asked.

"Nah...wait, can you use any?" Kiba asked back.

"Only the rasengan, but that doesn't need any hand signs. And it took the fox to figure out that much..." Naruto said thoughtfully.

Kiba processed the information. "The fox? The KYUUBI! ? ! Why didn't you tell any of us? ! ?" Kiba demanded.

"That BITCH! ! !" Naruto growled. _Tsunade said she'd tell everyone! That liar!_

"I knew..." Hinata faded into existence.

"What? Then why did you keep it to yourself? ! ?" Kiba yelled.

"Shut up, Kiba. She'll never tell anyone if you drown her in a screaming contest." Naruto sighed.

"Naruto was always alone, and if anyone in our class knew about the fox, he would have been bashed instead. That's why I told no-one." Hinata finished without stuttering, but her head was down.

"What right did you have to judge us? ! ?" Kiba yelled.

"She was right. You would have, wouldn't you?" Naruto said pointedly. "You responded to her comment that violently, because she was right on the money." Naruto shook his head with a sigh, and walked off. Hinata stared after him, while Kiba though about what he said.

.

Eh, Naruto was frustrated with Tsunade for not doing something she said she would, and that was telling his friends about the Kyuubi. He figured it would come out anyway, and it did. Kiba just got the short end of the stick.


	32. Double ambush

**Double ambush**

Micaiah saw the prisoners get shoved into the thick swamp. She burst forward with Sothe, Edward Leo and Nolan.

"We're the Dawn Brigade! Let the prisoners go!" Micaiah called out.

"Damn, whether they suspected a trap or not, they're here...Everyone, let's give them a warm, bloody welcome! We'll drown Daein's ambitions here!" The opposing commander yelled.

Ruffians in camouflage gear spilled out of the surrounding forest, ambushing the Dawn Brigade.

"So it was a trap after all...Now it's our turn!" Micaiah yelled, and muttered something in a strange language. Her arm went up, and a bright flare was emitted.

Volug, Nailah, Rafiel and Hinata appeared from the north-west. Nailah and Volug both tore into a foe each.

"What...What are you...?" The final brigand asked with fear. Those pupil-less eyes were beyond creepy.

Hinata didn't reply. He wasn't worth her words. She jabbed him in the neck, and shoved him gasping into the swamp.

Tormod, Muarim, Vika, Kiba and Akamaru came from the south, and Tormod discovered the swamp was slightly flammable. The first brigand was cremated on the spot.

Muarim shifted, and mauled the next man.

Vika shifted into raven form, and used her sharp talons to gouge out the third's eyes.

Kiba and Akamaru got dirty, as they went to rescue the prisoners in the swamp.

Aran, Laura and Naruto appeared from the south-east, right next to the commander.

Aran stayed close to the tree line with Laura, picking off several who came too close, and Laura healed him when necessary. Their main purpose was to help Naruto in the case things didn't go so well.

Naruto's target was the commander, but he was to stay relatively close to Aran and Laura if he could.

Two wyverns descended on their location, and the only ranged weapon they possessed was Naruto's shuriken, which would be largely ineffective against the armour the wyverns wore.

Naruto waited for the opportune moment, when the dracoknights descended to the tree line.

He ran for the nearest tall tree, and dashed up it. He leaped from the top, onto one of the wyverns, and paralysed him with his kunai to the top of the spine. Naruto severed the straps, and the paraplegic crashed to the ground, dead.

Naruto yanked on the reins experimentally, and was rewarded when the large wyvern suddenly altered its course. The two wyverns flew straight towards each other.

The one Naruto was riding shied away from the other, and Naruto wasn't strapped in. Naruto was thrown off, straight into the other rider. Their heads collided, but Naruto had a headband, and so retained consciousness, whereas the rider didn't.

Naruto began to fall towards the ground. It was going to hurt if he hit the ground at this speed. He looked around, and saw a tree branch jutting out. He was never going to be able to reach it, but maybe he didn't have to.

He slotted some wire through the shuriken, and tied it off. He threw the shuriken at the branch, and the shuriken embedded in it with a thunk.

Naruto swung down on the wire, and rolled once he hits the ground. He stayed low to the ground as a bolt of lightning struck the ground beside him. Naruto located the man who cast the spell, and threw another shuriken towards him. He realised later that this was the commander, but the shuriken went straight through both throat and spine. The man crumpled to the ground, twitching.

Naruto glanced back at the surrounding fight.

People were being pulled out of the swamp, and Micaiah's allies were easily mopping up the last forces. The swamp had several small fires burning on the surface, courtesy of Tormod, and some darker splotches.

This battle was over.


	33. Politics

**Politics**

"I understand, Apostle. Please appoint me, Lekain, Duke of Gaddos, as the head of this inspection group." A man asked.

"No. I don't trust you enough." The Apostle responded. "Instead, I will appoint Prime Minister Sephiran to the role." The Apostle turned and left the large meeting room.

Lekain kept the false smile on his face until the little girl closed the door.

"That pompous girl! She's ruining all our plans!" Lekain growled to himself.

"Yes, it does pose a problem. Sephiran is persistent, and quick to judge, not to mention he knows just where to put his nose." A man of slightly smaller stature responded.

"Yes, he does at that, Numida. I'll do all I can to stall their departure, while you deal with the rising threat in Daein. If word gets out about what we're doing there..." Lekain trailed off.

"It'll all be blamed on Jarod. I could give him supreme control, and the ambitious bastard won't see it for the trap it is." Numida supplied.

"Ah, an excellent plan. Make the senate proud, Numida." Lekain smiled.

.

"And so I give you complete control over the funds and army, in order to deal with the liberation army." Numida stated.

"Of course..." Jarod bowed slightly as Numida left. Alder walked in from a side room. "This reeks of a plot. The senators never give up power if they can avoid it, so that means my position is now dirty."

"I agree, but what can we do? If we act out of character, the senate will pick us off, and place a fool in your position as a scapegoat." Alder shook his head.

"And so the noose tightens..." Jarod closed his eyes and sighed.

.

Orochimaru withdrew Kusanagi from his mouth, and hung it by his side. Konoha was going to be jumpy with him around, and the time it took to withdraw the blade from his mouth could be the difference between life, and death.

"Lord Orochimaru, are you sure you should be here?" Kabuto asked hesitantly.

"If they know something about Sasuke-" Orochimaru was cut off.

"Good, you're here." Jiraiya said stoically.

"You warned me of your presence...can I assume this will be a peaceful gathering?" Orochimaru asked carefully.

"If you keep it that way, then yes." Jiraiya responded.

.

"So, Sasuke's missing as well, is he?" Tsunade spoke to her old comrade.

"Your words suggest you didn't do this." Orochimaru said carefully.

"Heh, if I did, I'd be bragging about it. We need to discover as much about these blue flames as possible, and considering Naruto's graduating class all vanished at the same time, you might know something. We have info, you have knowledge. If we work together, we might get our ninja back." Tsunade outlined the reason for the truce.

Orochimaru paused for a moment. 9 individuals, vanishing via blue flame simultaneously? That happened a while back with the Akatsuki...

"I think I've seen this before, but I have limited understanding of it." Orochimaru looked to the side. He didn't think that was the work of jutsu before, so there was little chance of him replicating it, or finding a way to bring them back.

Jiraiya was having other thoughts. _The three sannin working together? I wonder how long it takes to fall apart?_


	34. Idols

**Idols**

The allies slowly made it back to the liberation camp.

They heard loud noises coming from base camp.

"Fighting? ! ?" Micaiah looked alarmed, but Nailah put her hand on Micaiah's shoulder.

"No. I hear voices, but no steel. Perhaps word of your success has already arrived at the camp?" She suggested.

Micaiah looked relieved.

"Micaiah." Sothe walked over to her. "Once you rejoin the camp, there will be no turning back. Are you sure you want to do this?" Sothe asked sternly.

"Yes, I do, Sothe. This is my home, and I will see it restored. You can leave, but I will stay." Micaiah responded.

"Micaiah, I promised we'd make it through this together. I won't break it, ever." Sothe replied.

"Sothe, I...Thank you..." Micaiah closed her eyes.

Naruto was getting a little annoyed. "Come on! We've been walking around for hours, and food is just over the hill!"

Leo smacked his forehead, and Nolan shook his head with a smile. Edward was agreeing with Naruto, and wanted some food. As Ilyana would quote, 'People run on their stomach'. She normally adds a bit more, but that gets the point across.

They group came over the hill, to the sounds of cheering.

"There she is! She evaded the empire's trap yet again!"

The sun began to set below the horizon.

"The Maiden...of Dawn!"

The chant was taken up.

"And the Warrior of Dusk!" Someone esle yelled out.

Naruto was taken aback. Some part of him knew they were referring to him, but it seemed so unreal. People praising him? That never happened back home, and only rarely among his friends. He liked the name though, it sounded to him like the creeping darkness, the last thing his foes saw before they went to 'sleep' for the night.

He smiled to himself. Things really were looking up.

Micaiah was panicking slightly. "What do I do?" She shook with nerves.

"Wave. People like idols they can approach." Nailah shared her wisdom.

Naruto looked at the wolf queen. She reminded him partly of Tsunade, monster-like strength, probably a lot older than she lets on, and a concealed temper. Then again, Nailah thought before she acted, wasn't addicted to gambling, and earned wisdom with age. Naruto scrapped the thought, Nailah was nothing like Tsunade.

The two 'saviours' walked back into the camp, to be greeted with cheers and praise.

Sothe stood by Micaiah, who disliked such crowds.

Naruto, on the other hand, got swept up in it.

Naruto got all but hauled into the 'feasting tent' the army had set up, and was laughing with the common soldiers.

"This is how it should be, laughter and happiness, not war and devastation." Micaiah whispered to the heavens.

"We were always fighting for the innocents, Micaiah. Our goal has always been peace." Sothe replied.

Micaiah closed her eyes, and allowed herself to smile in the fading light.


	35. Jarod attacks

**Jarod attacks**

The feast was in full swing. News of Sephiran's visit spread like wildfire, because he was one of the very few uncorrupted senators.

Naruto was still partying with the soldiers, seemingly drawing energy from the party itself.

Micaiah had left for some time to herself. The party held no interest for her, and she had overused her powers.

Yune flitted through the trees to her side.

"How do you even fly at night? Do you even sleep?" Micaiah asked the bird, knowing the only answers she would get were a happy cheep. "I'm so tired...I'll just rest here...for a while..." Micaiah closed her eyes.

"How trusting..." Jarod whispered from the woods. _The bird...it almost seems larger than life, the moonlight reflecting like that..._

Yune was indeed glowing, glowing with blue flames, but moved often to mask them. Jarod's eyes locked with Yune, and Yune seemed to look into his very soul.

Jarod took a step from the undergrowth, and Yune flew up to eye level. Jarod stared unbelievingly at the defiant glint in the bird's eye.

_Didn't expect that...Nature itself seems to bend to her will..._ Jarod thought to himself. It didn't matter whether he lived or died here, he was doomed anyway.

Yune engaged Jarod in a strange scene of pecking, clawing and flailing wildly. Jarod couldn't ignore or hit the bird. It was a battle of endurance...

.

Sothe looked around wildly. _Where did she go?_ Micaiah was missing, and they were under attack.

Sothe noticed a heavily armoured man standing back slightly. He was now Sothe's target.

Sothe easily got under his sword arm, and placed him in a headlock, knife across his throat.

"Where is she? ! ?" Sothe demanded.

"The sliver haired girl? Knowing her luck, she's probably fighting the commander..." Alder replied.

"Where, damn it! ? !" Sothe yelled in his face.

Alder's facial expression changed from one of resignation, to one of faint hope.

"I'll take you there. I have to stop the commander." Alder walked towards the forest.

.

"Dratted bird!" Jarod took another swipe at it, but the irritated voice woke Micaiah up.

"Wha...Jarod?" Micaiah shook her head in an attempt to dispel him from her sight. When he didn't vanish, she became much more alarmed. Yune stopped attacking the man. "Why are you here?"

"Because of your success, the senate has blamed me for their actions against Daein. I'm unofficially on death row, because of you. I won't go down for something I didn't do, _Micaiah_. I will die for something I did." Jarod attacked her.

Micaiah took a step back, into the tree. Jarod advanced quickly, and thrust the lance forward. Micaiah stepped to the side, and Jarod's lance got stuck in the tree.

Micaiah flees a small distance, before turning back to Jarod. He was once again advancing on her.

A circle of light appeared between them, and the shape of a person resolved within it. He had a cape, red on the inside, black on the outside. He had black plated armour, obviously thick, and a strangely shaped helmet.

"Who are you?" Micaiah asked, more curious than afraid.

"If you remember the names of Daein's four riders, then you will know mine." The man responded.

_Pertine, Bertram, Gawain, and..._ "The Black Knight..." Micaiah whispered.

"The fabled Black Knight? Hah! Maybe you didn't hear, but he was killed in Nados Castle three years ago!" Jarod laughed.

"Do you wish to test that theory?" The Black Knight asked curiously. He pointed his five foot blade at Jarod. "Then come, and learn your folly."

Jarod snarled, and attacked him.


	36. Followed footsteps

**Followed footsteps**

Jiraiya was instantly alert.

He was in a place where there were many moving objects, though none were moving towards him.

He cracked an eye open, and saw that he was lying on a pile of hay. The room was otherwise empty. He looked up, and saw that there was a hole above the door, about shoulder height. He stood up and looked out the hole.

He was in some sort of horse stall, and there were many women walking around.

_This is either Naruto's greatest prank ever, or we got sucked in by those weird blue flames._ Jiraiya thought to himself.

Jiraiya walked cautiously out of the stall. One woman noticed him.

"What are you doing in the royal pegasus corral? ! ?"

"Uh..." Jiraiya thought frantically.

"Let me deal with this one." A dark haired slender woman walked forward. She had hard, cold eyes. "Who are you, and why are you here?"

"Uh, my name's Jiraiya, and-" Jiraiya was cut off.

"The author?" The second woman asked.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "You've heard of my books?"

The woman picked up a spear. "Yep." She tapped the spear against her hand menacingly.

"Not good..." Jiraiya thought aloud.

.

Orochimaru slowly picked himself up off the ground. His face hurt, but he could ignore it for the most part.

He was in a grassy plain about knee deep, and only one person was in sight. There were many mountains in the distance.

"On whose authority to trespass on the lands of Goldoa?" The man asked with a booming voice.

"You're barely worth killing." Orochimaru said flippantly.

"You will resist, I take it? Very well." The man pulled out a yellowy golden stone, and he glowed blue. The shape grew to about 15 feet tall, and sprouted wings. The shape resolved into a massive reptilian figure, with a very angular face.

Orochimaru merely blinked. "Well, you don't see that everyday..." He flicked through the hand signs for the summoning technique, and pressed his hand to the ground.

Nothing. The blood merely trickled down his hand.

Orochimaru frowned. It was a mystery to figure out later. He grabbed Kusanagi from his waist, and jumped towards the dragon. The dragon made no attempt to dodge, and was actually surprised when the blade cut through his scales.

The dragon reacted quickly, however, and immobilised the blade from either being removed, or cutting deeper. The dragon inhaled, and breathed a jet of liquid flame on Orochimaru, who quickly passed out from the pain.

The dragon reverted, and hauled the upstart away.

.

Tsunade woke up in an unusually comfy bed.

She looked around, and saw a room with 5 men, all with wings of varying colours.

"...Ok, maybe I did have too much to drink last night..." Tsunade rubbed her eyes.

"I didn't know alcohol enabled beorc to fly." The one with green wings said with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't remember any flying..." Tsunade knitted her brows in drowsy concentration.

"I have to agree, I never saw her flying." The one with dark brown wings said. "Only _falling_." He raised his arms to show his arm casts.

"Yeah, quit your whining. You've had worse before, Ulki." The one with light brown wings jeered.

"What do we do, Your Majesty?" The one with brown wings that hadn't spoken yet asked.

"We can't do anything until we know where she came from." The man with green wings spoke next. Was he the king?

"Konoha." Tsunade said simply.

4 of the 5 people present had a slightly shocked look on their faces. The one who didn't was the one who said 'Your Majesty'.

"Damn, that complicates things..." The one with green wings frowned.

"Tibarn, we can't reach Konoha through any safe means." The man that had white wings rose from his seated position.

"Yeah, you're stuck here." Tibarn, the king told her.

Tsunade blinked. _Damn, this dream is vivid._

.

.

The sannin arrived when Yune glowed in the previous chapter, and their placement has a significant impact on later events.

Konoha will be all but ignored for the rest of the story, but so that everyone knows, Danzo was placed in charge, with Shikaku Nara acting as a sort of head for the clans, ensuring Danzo doesn't try anything too stupid.

The Daein arc is also drawing to a close, however plot twists that _don't _exist in canon are scattered throughout the rest of the arc. Nothing is what it seems, at all.

I warned you.


	37. Second chance

**Second chance**

Jarod charged towards the Black Knight.

The Black Knight stood with his left hand by his side, and his right on his silver sword, the blessed blade Alondite. Jarod stabbed at him, but the Black Knight leaned to his right, let the lance pass him, and slashed upwards with his blade.

Jarod was bleeding from right hip to left shoulder. He had to admit, the man was good.

Jarod took a few steps back, but held his ready stance.

The Black Knight lifted his blade above his left shoulder, and intoned. **"Alondite."** The blade briefly glowed blue, and as the Black Knight swung his blade down, the blue glow turned into an arc shaped shockwave. It cut into Jarod, the two gashes forming a cross shape on his body.

The Black Knight walked up to him, and whispered. **"Night of the Eclipse."**

He brought his blade up, and slashed him close to the first cut. The second arc gave those two cuts another twin, and a third followed the same path. He brought his fist up, and punched Jarod in the chin, sending him up. The Black Knight whipped his sword around as Jarod came back down, attempting to cut him in half. Jarod managed to put his shield in the way, and it crumpled from the force of the blow. Jarod, still being airborne, was sent flying horizontally into a tree, where he was embedded slightly, before collapsing to the ground.

"Hmm, still alive I see. Make your peace, for this blow will be the end of you." The Black Knight approached him.

Jarod looked up, gasping. "How...How kind of you..." He collapsed into a coughing fit. The Black Knight brought his blade up.

"COMMANDER! ! !" Alder rushed in between the incoming blade and his commander.

The blade pierced both armour and flesh.

"...Alder? What are...you doing here?" Jarod gasped out.

"Saving my ass, commander." Alder replied. Jarod permitted himself a small smile. "Listen, while I'm still alive. There is a way for us to get out from under the senate's thumb. That girl you were trying to kill? Join her. If the occupation army couldn't bring her down, then it's safe enough for you until you get the opportunity to kill those bastards. Bring'em down, commander."

"...For Begnion..." Jarod whispered.

Alder nodded. "For Begnion." Alder died with a smile on his lips.

"..." Jarod looked at his officer.

"He was a good man, who died an honourable death." The Black Knight bowed his head in prayer.

"You don't know...the half of it..." Jarod gasped out.

"Bastard tried to lose me...? ! ?" Sothe looked at the battleground in shock.

There was a Begnion officer, dead. The commander was in shreds, and a man he'd feared stood, seemingly protecting Micaiah.

_Who to kill..._ Sothe thought insanely.


	38. Freedom?

**Freedom?**

Sothe saw that Jarod was out of action, more or less, and so focused on Ike's black rival.

"You! How are you here? ! ? Ike killed you three years ago!" Sothe placed himself between Micaiah and the Black Knight.

"Ah, Nados. It is true that Ike defeated me three years ago, however, as you can see, I escaped the castle's destruction." The Black Knight replied.

"You will not touch Micaiah." Sothe narrowed his eyes, and prepared for the worst.

"I have no need." The Black Knight replied dismissively.

Sothe was confused, but he didn't let it show.

"The Black Knight was one of Ashnard's greatest warriors. Sothe, we need him. And if you start ranting about Ike again, I'll lock you in Aimee's caravan." Micaiah threatened.

Sothe pocketed his weapon instantly. It was easier to not argue with her. "What about him?" Sothe pointed at Jarod.

Jarod spat a bit of blood out of his mouth. "I'm through with the senate. Begnion would be better off without those greedy bastards." Jarod was becoming adjusted to the pain. "The best way to serve Begnion, would be to join you."

"It's probably just another ploy to kill you, Micaiah." Sothe pulled his knife out again.

"No, it's not. The statement was genuine, Sothe." Micaiah shook her head.

"..." Sothe stared at the man with distrust.

Jarod made an attempt to haul himself to his feet, but he collapsed against the tree. "I need a healer..."

"I'll get Laura." Micaiah ran off.

"You make a move against her, and I'll kill you." Sothe told both Jarod and the Black Knight.

.

Micaiah returned with Laura.

Laura gasped, whether it was because it was Jarod, or because of how badly injured he was will never be known.

"Laura, we need you to fix him." Micaiah ordered. Laura closed her eyes and brought her staff out.

.

"Damn, Jarod defected..." Numida scowled.

"He could leak some...undesirable evidence against us, Numida." Lekain stated.

"Tsk, I know." Numida racked his brain for a solution.

"If you don't think of something soon, I will discard you. If you are incriminated, you will only be dead weight." Lekain told him before walking out.

_Just as I discarded Jarod, he will discard me...I'll take the fall from his plans. How do I save myself?_ Numida thought.


	39. Feral

**Feral**

The group returned to the camp. Even though everyone was running around, Tormod was easily heard over the din.

"Somebody, help!" Tormod sounded frantic, however it was obvious that he wasn't in trouble.

Sothe ran off without a second thought, and Micaiah followed him. The Black Knight merely scanned the scene before him, and Laura just stood there. Jarod was chained up, but that was only to ensure he wasn't attacked inside camp, at least until he got a set of black armour.

.

"Tormod, what's wrong?" Sothe asked.

"Where were you? ! ?" Tormod demanded.

_He'd better not have been yelling just to find me...that'd be just like him._ Sothe sighed. "Tormod..."

"Right. Muarim's in trouble! He just suddenly started transforming, but he stops when I call his name! What's more, when he shifts, it's as if one of 'them' is looking at me!" Tormod said pleadingly.

"One of...NO!" Sothe ran inside Tormod's tent.

"Muarim!" Sothe's voice was easily heard.

'_Them'? What are 'they'?_ Micaiah thought as she walked into the tent.

Inside, she saw Muarim panting heavily, then he tensed up. A blue glow surrounded him, and he began to shift.

"Muarim!" Both Sothe and Tormod shouted.

Muarim reverted. "Little...one. Sir Sothe...Take Tormod...and go...Ungg..." Muarim clutched his stomach in obvious pain.

Micaiah prepared to use Sacrifice to heal Muarim. She placed her hand on his head, and the image of a savage laguz attacking her flashed through her head. It was all out of proportion, so it was impossible to determine anything from the picture. Micaiah flinched away.

"His soul has been twisted...there's nothing I can do." Micaiah told them sadly.

A haunting voice was heard from just outside, and Nailah and Rafiel walked inside the already crowded tent. Muarim seemed to calm down, but passed out instead.

"Muarim!" Tormod rushed to the fallen man.

"Don't worry, he is merely unconscious." Rafiel informed him.

"But what about..." Tormod trailed off.

"Gone." Rafiel replied with a smile.

"The Galdrar of Rebirth restores souls to their original state. Rafiel can wield the seid magic, among other Galdrar." Nailah stated.

Tormod relaxed visibly. "Thank you...Life without Muarim would be..." Tormod fell to the floor, crying with relief.

"Tormod, get up." Sothe said coldly.

Tormod was shocked at his friend's sudden change in attitude. "What...?"

"This isn't over yet. I have a pretty damn good feeling I know exactly who did this." Sothe walked out of the tent. Tormod was too shocked to follow him.

.

"You!" Sothe hoisted Izuka by the neck of his clothes.

"Unhand me, you insolent brat!" Izuka sneered in outrage.

"Give me _one_ good reason to. You gave Muarim the drug to turn him into a Feral One!" Sothe was barely able to restrain himself from punching the older man in the face, over and over.

"Ah, that wonderful creation! Enabling a laguz to perpetually remain in their shifted state, an incredible warrior!" Izuka cackled.

"At the cost of both sanity and lifespan!" Sothe was nearing the limit of his self control.

"Sothe, please put Izuka down." Pelleas walked in calmly.

"..." Sothe didn't move an inch, instead, he fixed the prince with a narrow glare.

"I have heard the conversation. And while Izuka is in the wrong, he can do nothing to rectify the situation as long as you hold him, Sothe." Pelleas said serenely.

"The situation is already rectified, _prince_. You need to ensure it doesn't happen again." Sothe threw Izuka roughly towards Pelleas.

Izuka regained his breath unnaturally quickly. "You can't order the prince around!"

"Izuka, shut it." Pelleas' face was still calm, however his voice conveyed all the masked emotions. Anger and frustration. "We almost lost Micaiah's support because of your actions. Sothe's absolutely right. You're a loose cannon, doing whatever you feel like, and I have to deal with the consequences. For a man of supposed genius, you are surprisingly lacking in intelligence. Use that brain of yours from now on, or you _will_ get yourself killed." Pelleas stood over the man for a couple of extra seconds, letting what he said sink in, then walked away.

.

.

Pelleas has a backbone! Yet more surprises waiting in the next couple of chapters.


	40. Nevassa

**Nevassa**

Everyone within the liberation army looked towards their capital. It was a long march, but the end was in sight, perhaps already reached.

Then the castle's siege engines began firing on the town.

Many soldiers stared at the destruction of their capital in shock. Others exclaimed things like 'But the Begnion soldiers already defected'.

Micaiah saw what would happen if they did, or did not interfere with this event. Neither was pretty, but there was an obvious lesser of two evils.

"Soldiers of Daein, innocent families are being destroyed at the hands of Begnion rebels. The longer we wait, the more people will die. Many of our soldiers will die if we attack, however would you prefer to live, while your family rots in a grave? Us soldiers are the ones prepared to die fighting, not the common folk. Let us do our jobs, for Daein!" Micaiah rallied the army, and led them in a desperate charge against the unknown enemy.

.

The Daein army was pushing the Begnion troops away from the siege engines. It was a slaughter, soldiers from both sides dying.

Micaiah led the Dawn Brigade, and the wolves inside the building. They were greeted by the last person they were expecting to see.

The Black Knight stood inside the doorway facing away from them. "So, you came..."

The circle of Begnion troops around him attacked the Dawn Brigade.

Naruto plunged his hand into his shuriken pocket. He took notice there was substantially less shuriken in there than there was when he started in this world. He withdrew his hand without any shuriken, instead he formed a rasengan to look like he pulled that out of his pocket instead. The rasengan met a small amount of resistance once it contacted the man's armour, but once it punctured it the rasengan tore into the man's chest.

Sothe dashed forwards and kicked a man in the face, and drew his heavier dagger with his right hand. He plunged it into the heart on the man on his right, and threw the little knife with his left into the stomach of a man about to engage Leo. Sothe pulled the dagger from his foe, and slashed the first man's neck and threw it hilt first into the base of a helmet. He grabbed the knife, and killed the man he threw it into, and retrieved the dagger from the now choking man. He turned to face the Black Knight...

Micaiah sent balls of light exploding into several foes, and jumped back. In none of her visions, had the Black Knight gone traitor. _Was Sothe telling the truth?_ She thought. She sent a small gravity field towards another foe, but then she noticed someone familiar, in red armour.

Jarod.

"They came..." He sounded a bit surprised. His lance was covered with blood. "I did what you asked me to, Black Knight."

"Good. This battle will end soon." The Black Knight said clearly. "We will end it."

"Yes." Jarod replied with a bow.


	41. The Black Knight

**The Black Knight**

"I knew it. You would never side with Micaiah, would you? ! ?" Sothe demanded of the Black Knight.

The Black Knight turned around slowly, first showing his bloody blade, but then the next thing came into sight.

A Begnion soldier hung lifelessly from his gauntleted hand, which he dropped to the ground.

"My desire was to see Daein reborn, and Jarod helped me. He is undercover, destroying their chain of command, while I distract them from the possibility of a traitor. Jarod will always be working for Micaiah, as she is his only chance at life. Jarod deserves to kill the commander of these forces anyway." The Black Knight replied.

Several Begnion soldiers came through the open castle door where the Dawn Brigade entered.

"Go. I'll hold them off here." The Black Knight pointed his sword at the Begnion soldiers. Micaiah nodded and ran forwards, further into the keep. Sothe was forced to follow her, and the rest of her party disappeared after her.

All except Naruto.

"I thought I said I would handle this rabble." The Black Knight said.

"Yeah, but I heard you're really strong. I wanna see what you can do, and I'll help out in the process." Naruto replied with a grin.

"...Very well...**Alondite**." The Black Knight sent a blue shockwave towards the gathered soldiers. The soldiers dived, desperate to escape the phantom blade. It hit a couple of soldiers, and Naruto whistled in appreciation.

The Black Knight ran forward, far faster than someone with all that armour on should be able to.

The human shaped metal boulder crashed into the soldiers, and his sword whipped around in a frenzy. Blood was sprayed everywhere, however the limbs always stayed attached to the bodies.

"...Wow, you deserve the praise the rumours give you." Naruto admired.

The Black Knight ran the final soldier through. "It would be better, however, if there was no need to fight. These people may have been stupid or misguided, however they still have their own families and friends. They are no less human than we are." Naruto couldn't help himself. He began to laugh. "May I ask what you find humorous?"

"That's just it, isn't it? While they commit horrendous crimes on innocents, and we kill only those prepared to die, we're the monsters, not them. People like us, that's the only way people see us, isn't it?" Naruto looked at the black clad figure.

The Black Knight sighed audibly. "Yes, the world is a cruel and unfair place. We just have to recognise what we are gifted with."

"And make the most of it." Naruto concluded.

.

.

This was important character development, for Naruto and the Black Knight. It shines a deeper light on their personalities, and reasons for much later actions.


	42. Numida's plot

**Numida's plot**

Jarod walked back among the Begnion soldiers, acting like one of the wounded. He had a full face helm to avoid being discovered, and it was quite common, also.

"You, halt!" A familiar voice shouted.

"Me, commander?" Someone beside him asked.

_Commander?_ Jarod looked up, and saw his target.

Numida.

"No, the one next to you. You look awfully familiar...your name, soldier." Numida commanded.

Jarod realise his cover was about to be blown, but why fizzle out when you can go with a bang?

Jarod impaled the soldier beside him, and removed the helmet. He stopped acting injured. "Who did you think, you bastard?"

"Jarod? The traitor?" Numida was shocked. No wonder he recognised him.

"Coming from the man who tried using me as a scapegoat first, that doesn't mean much." Jarod replied calmly, advancing on the man he'd been forced to betray.

"You will learn to fear the-" Numida started shouting, but an even louder exclamation interrupted him.

"SUB-HUMAN! ! ! ! !" At least one shouted, maybe more.

"Vile beorc!" Nailah lashed out, spraying his blood across the walls. Several soldiers were seen backing into the commander's room.

"I've become flexible in my thinking. Laguz are much more powerful than beorc, and befriending them makes my point much more forceful." Jarod smiled evilly.

"She's been fighting for ages, but she doesn't revert!" Another yelled frantically.

"It's rather stupid for such weak creatures such as you beorc, to insult a laguz royal." Nailah allowed her hair to bristle, capturing an arrow before it reached the skin

She lunged forwards, and tore the archer's throat out. She snarled viciously, and two of the three soldiers left dropped their weapons and ran. The last brought up his spear, and jabbed it warningly at Nailah. She caught it between her teeth, and broke the head off it. The soldier quivered in fear, as Nailah placed her paw on the fallen man. She slowly placed more and more weight on the man, until his ribcage broke under the strain, killing him.

Jarod walked closer to Numida, lance poised to strike. "Don't worry, I'll send the rest of the senators to keep you company. Ashera knows you're all going to the same place."

Numida started mumbling something.

"If they're your last words, then you should speak up." Jarod smiled. Then he remembered that the senators all had basic training in magic, to use those new warp staves. _Crap._

Jarod put his spear in front of his shield in an attempt to defend himself, as the balls of light gathered in front of him, and all surged forward. Jarod's spear bent around his shield, and Jarod saw both as useless. He discarded them, and rushed Numida unarmed.

While Numida may have been armed, he wasn't used to real battle, and so Jarod's reflexes served him better than Numida's weapon did for the senator. Jarod punched the pompous man in the face, and proceeded to choke him. With no breath, he couldn't cast spells, and was defenceless as his life faded away. Jarod looked at the dead form of his master. "Payback's a bitch."


	43. Daein reborn

**Daein reborn**

The surviving soldiers gathered inside the castle gate, as Pelleas walked between them. Almedha, the unofficial queen of Daein, and their advisor, Izuka, stood beside where Pelleas stopped. Micaiah and Sothe stood beside Almedha, whereas the Black Knight and Naruto stood beside Izuka. Pelleas signed the document saying he was the king of Daein in his own blood, and made his speech.

"Citizens and soldiers of Daein, I, Pelleas, son of Ashnard the Mad, humbly accept the mantle of ruler to bring about not war, but peace and prosperity for our beloved country. May my time as ruler of Daein not be recorded by feats of military, but by ones of prosperity. May the people of Daein never be forced to raise a weapon again!" Pelleas concluded.

Cheers rung out, but not as loudly as they might have been. Pelleas had been all but isolated in his high rank, no thanks to either his mother or Izuka.

Micaiah saw the lack of support for the prince, and decided to help. "This is a time for Daein to rebuild, and an opportunity to secure peaceful relations. Everyone must work together, to build a better Daein!"

This time there were more cheers of support.

Izuka scowled darkly. The girl had stolen all authority from the prince, and he had no hold over her. And her military prowess was not to be trifled with, so Daein needed her in command of the military, regardless of the supposed peaceful future. He noticed the laguz were nowhere in sight, and that Sothe and Micaiah were decidedly sullen. They must have left, and the 'Maiden of Dawn' must have formed some sort of bond with them. Interesting, valuable information. The grey wolf, and the strange man with his oversized dog remained, however.

"Yes, and to commemorate Micaiah's struggle to give us this opportunity, I officially name her commander of Daein's military." Pelleas once again gained the spotlight. "Now, if you bow your head..." Pelleas draped the ceremonial robe over her.

"Thank you, my king. I pray I may continue to serve you as well as I already have." Micaiah bowed humbly.

Naruto didn't have the slightest clue what was going on, but he didn't let it show. A ninja who showed he didn't know something usually ended up dead.

No, instead, he nodded sagely towards the two. Years of pranks had taught him how to look innocent, even when it was glaringly obvious it was him. Those same instincts warned him that something was very wrong about this event. He glanced around for some hint as to what it was.

"CHEEP! ! !" Yune chirped loudly.

Naruto had built an almost reflexive fear of the bird, so when he heard it, he executed a perfect commando roll into a knot of soldiers, miraculously without a collision, and just kept running. The bird seemed pleased with itself.

"I would say you should control the bird, but even I have to admit, it's quite funny." Pelleas watched Naruto bolt out the castle with a smile on his face.

If this was a preview of what Daein's future was, it was one (almost) everyone could look forward to.


	44. Crimea

**Crimea**

Elincia was beginning to get worried.

Bastian hadn't sent any reports for more than a week and a half now, and the aristocracy was using his absence to slander the queen.

The aristocrats disliked their queen's view on the relationship with the newly reborn nation of Daein. It was understandable, with Daein's recent war, but peace was what her father had based his ideals on.

And he earned the support of the laguz nation of Gallia, the first true peace between laguz and beorc in over 400 years.

Anyway, there were very few places in the castle that she could escape the aristocrats, and she didn't feel like being cooped up in the castle anymore. She took her pegasus out of the stable, and flew, leaving her worries in the clouds.

After flying for a substantial amount of time, Marcia joined her.

"Finally found you. It's pretty hard to find you in the clouds, your highness." Marcia told her.

"I didn't want to be found just yet." Elincia replied.

"The aristocrats?" Marcia grinned. "Those bags of wind are nothing compared to the senate of Begnion. I swear, they thought of something new every week. At least these 'nobles' only bring up old news."

"I suppose...I just wish Bastian didn't convince me to send him off." Elincia gazed down, sullenly. Instead, she saw something she would otherwise have missed. "Is that...Princess Leanne?" Elincia also noticed the not so small number of Begnion dracoknights surrounding the heron princess.

.

"Look here, boys. A heron princess, with such a thin guard. Did you get lost, little girl?" The commander of the dracoknights joked. "This'll make a nice addition to our wallets, don't ya think?"

"I may be old, but this old crow won't be giving up without a fight!" Nealuchi yelled at them, attempting to shield Leanne.

Sasuke had his own reasons for protecting the girl. If the princess was captured, he was going to become a bloody crater on the ground. "You won't lay a finger on her." Sasuke said blandly, his eyes showing a deadly determination to fulfil that statement.

"No one will pay anything for the old crow, and that young brat needs his wings clipped." Their commander grinned arrogantly.

"Have the Begnion dracoknights forgotten these are Crimean skies?" Elincia rode forward with Marcia.

"Heh, so the Crimean pegasus knights _did_ show up. Like we fear you, who needed to rely on Begnion to win your own war!" The man responded snidely.

"I will only ask one more time. Leave, or I will use force." Elincia replied calmly.

"You arrogant whelp! The Begnion dracoknights are superior to the Crimean pegasus knights, _and_ we outnumber you! And yet _you_ threaten us?" The man drew his weapon, an axe.

Elincia drew her own slender blade while shaking her head. "I warned you."

.

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I might need a beta soon. One of the chapters I've been writing isn't turning out quite right. If anyone's interested, PM me.

Senge.


	45. Air battle

**Air battle**

Elincia rode forward to protect the princess, however Marcia saw a familiar blackish blot in the sky, and pursued that instead.

"Haar! I thought I recognised that smelly lizard." Marcia greeted him.

Haar yawned. He was having such a nice nap too. "...Marcia. Your pony still eating more apples than you can hold?" Haar returned the greeting.

"I would take that as an insult, but we have a problem." Marcia looked serious, but Haar couldn't resist one more jibe.

"I don't have any problems, Marcia. I think you need to get your head screwed on right." Haar smirked.

"Just shut up and listen to me, scale bag! Now, Elincia _and_ Leanne are in trouble, fighting some of your old friends. So, how about putting them back in line?" Marcia tried to calm down.

"Dracoknights." Haar said simply, and rode towards the flurry of activity.

.

Elincia evaded yet another blow from the dracoknights. While she had little strength, she had vastly superior speed. The dracoknights had yet to so much as touch her, but the blade had too little weight behind it to do anything more than scratch their armour, even at the weak points.

"Argh! Stay still, damn you!" Another burly man took a swing at her, but the axe only split the air.

Nealuchi was barely keeping up. Despite his age, he could both give and take hits, but it would only be so long before his health began to fail him.

Sasuke was both cold and cruel, slicing saddles free of their mounts, then forcing both rider and saddle to fall to the ground, a long way below the fight. While flying, he had to stay very close to Leanne, or he would follow his victims.

Sasuke saw another wyvern get too close, so he kicked the wyvern's throat, and punched through the flat of the rider's axe. Sasuke then grabbed the grip of the broken axe, and brought it up to shatter the man's jaw. With the man holding his jaw instead of the reins, the wyvern flew off.

Sasuke saw another wyvern, and threw the broken axe at him. While the axe itself would only cause minimal damage, it was a lot worse when it hit the straps holding the man in the saddle. Any complex manoeuvres would cause the harness to fail, as that person soon found out, by screaming as he fell towards the earth miles below.

A black wyvern flew dangerously close, and Sasuke attacked the intruder, only to find Shino blocking his first onslaught with a kunai.

"I know you...Shino." Sasuke remembered. It had been a long time.

"Sasuke." Shino recognised the chakra instantly. "I believe we are on the same side, so please refrain from attacking us again."

"Yeah, kidnapping princesses ain't my style. My old friends need a little reminder about how good I was, before I left the Begnion Dracoknights." Haar replied sleepily.

Sasuke thought for a moment. _This guy is very relaxed, and considering how I just sent several men to their deaths, he might actually be on my side._

"Zeffren? Is that you?" Haar blinked.

"Haar? ! ?" What the hell are you doing here? ! ?" The commander of the wing of dracoknights asked, astonished.

"Actually, it figures it would be you. Always too greedy for your own good." Haar drew his axe.

"The dracoknights spit on your name!" Zeffren responded heatedly.

"Well here's your chance at the real deal." Haar's wyvern gripped the other's armour, and shook violently. The two wyverns battled for supremacy, while Haar told Shino to unwrap the cargo Haar was transporting.

Shino handed Haar the rope binding the package, and held onto it himself. Haar wrapped the rope around his harness, and leaped for the other man. Haar landed on the red wyvern's wing, which is unused to handling the weight. The wyvern curled the wing under it to support the weight, but that now meant that Zeffren was hanging upside down, with Haar's wyvern holding him there.

Haar struggled off the wing, and attacked Zeffren with the axe. Zeffren was caught completely off guard, and the axe bit through the heavy armour. Zeffren was so surprised, he whipped his own axe around, severing the straps on the harness, and forcing Haar to let go of the axe. Zeffren plummeted to the ground, while his wyvern was barely able to fly, as Haar's mount had torn into its wings while it was defenceless.

The two wyverns broke apart as Haar climbed back on, unharmed.

As Haar began retying the rope, he muttered to himself. "Damn greedy bastard, took my axe as well. That thing wasn't cheap..."

.

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4000 hits, 900 visitors, and 9 reviews. Can some people please tell me how I'm doing? Seriously...


	46. Castle of Melior

**Castle of Melior**

Elincia, Leanne, Marcia, Nealuchi, Haar, Sasuke and Shino returned to Castle Crimea, worn out by the brief battle.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, there was another person from the elemental countries residing within that building.

"SASUKE! ! !" Sakura yelled out, running towards him. Sasuke saw her, and ran for it. That look in her eyes wasn't one promising cuddles and kisses, it was promising pain on a whole new level. After about a minute, Shino suddenly started counting. "8...7...6..."

"What are you counting for?" Elincia asked, rather confused.

"Earthquake. 3...2...1..." Shino concluded. Three more seconds passed, and no earthquake.

"You scared us all for nothing!" Marcia shouted at him.

Shino winced. When fate leaves you alone, you don't ask it to come back. Ever.

The ground shook violently, and abated in the space of two seconds. Another minute passed, then Shino cocked his head slightly. "Only one?" The ground shook again. "I guess I asked for that."

"I suppose this happens often." Elincia stated.

"You could say that." Shino thought of how often Kiba had been pounded into the ground by Sakura.

Elincia noticed that her blue haired advisor, Lucia, and Haar were both suspiciously absent.

"Haar took the woman towards where he left his wyvern. He brought a few things for you both." Shino put her doubts to rest.

Another earthquake rumbled, and a mangled Sasuke crashed through the door. Several splinters went flying.

"Sakura, you _will_ be paying for that." Elincia told her sternly.

Sakura abruptly stopped her rampage. "Sorry, your majesty..."

"Marcia, let's get Sasuke a room with a few healers. Sakura, you will stay here with...I never heard your name..." Elincia looked at him questioningly.

"Shino." Shino responded simply.

"Stay with Shino, Sakura." Elincia walked off with Marcia.

.

"He looks awfully familiar, even beat up like that..." Marcia looked at the almost deformed body of Sasuke.

"Itachi Uchiha. They look incredibly alike, however act completely different." Elincia remembered various things Itachi did, and running from a potential threat only happened twice. Both times were because of the Black Knight.

"Looks really are only skin deep, huh?" Marcia turned down the hall.

They travelled the rest of the way in silence.

.

Several men walked into the quiet town of Ohma. They were easily picked out from anyone else in the small village, being the only ones ready for battle.

A small woman noticed the gathering and ran off into a house, only to reappear clothed in light, blue armour. Grasping a spear, she ran off, only being noticed by two shadowy figures...

.

.

The next chapter still needs work, so I might not update for a few days. Chapter 48 is already written though.


	47. Rebels

**Rebels**

The woman returned with a heavy man, who wore grey armour, and held a crude axe.

He exhaled sharply. "Neph, this armour feels like a ton of bricks. What's going on, anyway?"

"Quiet Brom. You'll see." Neph replied.

"Citizens of Crimea! Daein has risen from the ashes, and is no doubt preparing for war once again! But what does our queen propose to the barbaric country? Peace! Our homes will be raised once again, our families endangered once again, because of our queen's ideals! We must take matters into our own hands, and overthrow the queen!" One of the new arrivals to the village recited to the gathered youths.

"What? ! ? You don't know a thing about Elincia!" Brom yelled in outrage.

"A spy from the queen, sent to silence us! Save our country from this tyranny!" The man yelled again.

"Too little, too late, Brom." Neph readied her spear. "These guys can't see sense. We're just gonna have to knock their heads around a bit."

Neph lashed out at a villager, easily knocking the sword out of his grip. She spun the spear around, and struck him hard in the temple. The man collapsed instantly. The rest of the rebels backed off warily, realising she was much more experienced than any of them.

.

"That guy really ticks me off." Ino growled, pulling up a few flowers. She suddenly had an idea. "Heather, distract a couple of those idiots. I'm going to talk to the head man." Ino stormed off.

"And I can nab some stuff in the process..." Heather smiled.

.

"Oh, what a cute face you have!" Heather exclaimed. "What's your name?"

"Uh, Nephenee..." Neph replied nervously.

"Nephenee...Alright, I'll help you." Heather ran off with a smile on her face.

"...What the hell just happened?" Nephenee asked no-one in particular.

.

Ino walked up to the man in charge, and promptly stuck a flower in his hair.

The man blinked in confusion.

"Here, hold these." Ino shoved the flowers into the man's hand. "It's easier to put the flowers in your hair with two hands. Flower please." Ino put her hand out.

The man dropped his lance and gave her another flower, which Ino also put in his hair. She then picked up his lance and ran off with it just as Brom rounded the corner, leaving the stunned man without a weapon, and flowers in his hands.

"...Okay..." Brom looked at him strangely. A rebel tried to attack him from behind, but Brom merely guided his blade into the ground with his armoured arm, and used his axe to slice his leg open.

"Argh! My...my leg!" The man cried as he fell to the ground. "You murderer!"

"Yeah, that's right. Me and Neph, we've been to war. At least we killed Daein soldiers, not Crimean civilians." Brom saw Nephenee, and walked over to her. Any rebel who saw the event lost any interest in fighting. It was all fun and games until you realised how badly you could get hurt.

"Neph, the queen needs to know about this." Brom told her.

"We're coming too." Heather returned suddenly.

"...Uh, we?" Nephenee asked, looking around.

"She said she'd be here!" Heather growled, glancing around herself.

Ino dropped out of a tree.

"All ready!" Heather cheered. Brom and Nephenee just looked at Ino, but when they remembered the strange group in the red cloud cloaks from 3 years ago, they shrugged and walked towards the distant capital of Melior.

.

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This chapter had to be dragged out of my mind, so I may rewrite it later. The next two are better already in my opinion, but I'll keep to my updating schedule.


	48. Preparations

**Preparations**

The group of four finally made it to the capital.

They were granted instant audience with the queen, given that Brom and Nephenee were war veterans.

"So, what brings ex-soldiers from so far away to my court?" Elincia asked them, rather anxious to find out.

"Somebody's been a tryin' to make the people kick you off the throne, queen Elincia." Brom informed.

_He didn't talk like that at all while we were on the road..._ Ino looked at Brom strangely. He certainly seemed more relaxed here.

"Ludveck, duke of Felirae." Heather said quickly. "I recognised the crest on the man's armour, and I doubt he was acting in his own interest."

Elincia put her fingers to her forehead, wishing Bastian was here. But he wasn't, so she would do the best she could without him. "I never thought one would be brave or foolish enough to try civil war...this just got a lot worse."

"Allow me to search his castle, Elincia." Lucia had listened in on the proceedings. Being foster sister to the queen sure had its perks.

"I cannot put you in such-" Elincia was cut off.

"Danger? I have several reasons to believe that I will be completely safe, not the least being that I am a royal guest, and that he cannot make an official move against me until he has raised enough hate for the throne." Lucia deliberately left out that Ludveck was smitten with her, and not for the position _or_ wealth. No, little harm would come to her, even if she showed him the proverbial dagger she was about stab him with.

"Still, I worry." Elincia replied.

"And that's why you're a good queen. Elincia." Lucia began walking to the door. "Better late than never."

.

Unfortunately, as she left the castle with the few vital comforts that she would seem suspicious without, Lucia was beset by the Laguz emissaries.

"Is it true? That you are about to engage the enemy?" A female cat laguz asked with mere curiosity. Several battles under your belt and the worry about such events fades away.

"No, something more...preliminary. He's bound to have documents describing orders to his troops, and we could use them against him." Lucia told them.

"Bah! All this running around! Why, a laguz would just sink their fangs into the enemy and be done with it!" The cat replied angrily.

The quieter tiger laguz spoke up. "Beorc man hide behind words, not knowing words can be seen through. Gallia support queen Elincia?"

"No, I'm afraid. If there was even a hint of Gallia's assistance..." Lucia trailed off.

"Then Crimea would see its queen as being unable to stand on her own two feet. Us laguz can understand that sentiment, at least." The cat rolled her eyes. Beorc were so confusing.

"Thank you, Lethe, Mordecai. But I believe that if you show faith in the queen that it will help her as well, and no citizen can argue with that kind of help." Lucia advised.

Leanne said something in the ancient language, one that is too complex for beorc to understand in their limited lifetime. Even so, one does not become the head of a spy network by relying on words alone.

"No, Leanne, I doubt it would be a good idea for you to come with me. Too much danger for someone like you. Please understand." Lucia stated simply.

"Then I guess this old crow will be coming too!" Nealuchi joined the conversation.

"And we will be the princess' personal guard." Lethe added, giving an excuse to be able to help Lucia if she needed it.

Lucia bowed her head in defeat. So much for espionage...


	49. Undercover

**Undercover**

Lucia had also managed to scoop Brom, Nephenee, Ino and Heather into this 'survey'. Now it was closer to a royal visit than a small undercover mission.

Ludveck seemed to have advance warning of the visit, suspicious in itself. There had been no public mention of the visit, and only the queen knew it was happening outside those actually going. Apart from Ludveck, it seems.

Their arrival was greeted by Ludveck himself, and followed into a large feasting hall decorated with food. Heather and Lucia noticed Ino subtly sniff and taste the food, before swallowing any of it. They both saw this as meaning the food was safe to eat, and did so, albeit slowly. Ludveck missed the entire exchange.

"So, my dear Lucia, what brings you here?" Ludveck asked with a small smile on his face.

Lucia already had a conceivable reason for the visit other than espionage. "The queen needs to have a connection with her people, and I have heard rumours of your hospitality. So I came here first."

"Ah, I see. And what of your companions?" Ludveck probed.

"The laguz embassy is searching for Ike, and sees this travel as a means to that end, and the others are my personal guards. A lady of the court should not be without any guards." Lucia replied.

Ludveck nodded. Seeking a means to end the meeting, he saw that the day was getting late. "Allow me to show you to your quarters." Ludveck bowed gracefully.

"Of course, your lordship." Lucia replied.

.

This happened again the next day, and the following night, Lucia made her move.

She found the remote cave Ludveck stored his revolution plans, and snuck inside.

Unfortunately, all her companions had found their own way of following her, as she found the vital documents.

"Leanne, be quiet!" Nealuchi hissed.

Lucia sighed in exasperation, until she heard a slapping sound from behind the familiar laguz.

Ino walked out, shaking her head with her hand seemingly glued to it. "Guess we're all here."

Lucia's eye twitched angrily. "Ok, I can see how one person can sneak past the guards, but _all_ of you?"

Ino held a small ball in her hand. "Amnesia bomb. Knocks out anyone caught for about 40 minutes, and they can't remember anything for about 2 hours before that. Useful stuff." She smiled.

Lucia blinked. "After we get back, tell me how to make those things."

"Sure thing." Ino replied as they all headed for the exit.

Ino threw another bomb on the way out, just to make sure. Everyone waited for the smoke to clear. Sure enough, everyone was in a comatose state.

They left for the capital immediately, so they could not get caught.

Ludveck noticed their absence, as well as his documents, and decided to change his plans...

.

.

A little note, I suspect this was the reason Ludveck stopped inciting rebels and decided to attack the queen. As such, the rest of the second arc storyline will remain close to canon, for a few more chapters at least.


	50. Fangirls

**Fangirls**

"So, you obtained the evidence?" Elincia asked.

"Yes, we have all we need to incriminate him." Lucia replied, handing over said documents.

"...Oh dear." Elincia frowned. More than half the documents included how to keep Lucia away from the front lines if Elincia was forced into combat. "It seems that Ludveck has a few...other issues, doesn't he?"

"I told you I was completely safe there..." Lucia rolled her eyes.

"That you did." Elincia sighed.

"So, what do we do now?" Ino asked.

"I thought I heard a familiar voice." Sakura glared at Ino.

"Whew, I'm not the only one here." Ino sighed happily.

"Don't give me that crap! You're following Sasuke, aren't you? ! ?" Sakura demanded.

"...Sasuke's here?" Ino blinked.

Sakura closed her eyes in an 'I'm better than you' pose. "Of course he's here-" Sakura realise she was talking to thin air, as Ino had already begun searching the vast castle for him. _That bitch! I'll show her..._ "Ino, I already checked down there!" Sakura yelled in a sweet voice.

Ino turned around and began searching another wing, one that Sakura actually _had_ checked. Sakura allowed an evil smile to creep to her lips as she continued the already several days long search.

Elincia was glad that her castle had more than a few hidden corridors. Otherwise, the Uchiha would be either some form of human paste, or suffocated by the fangirls embraces. They never let go once they got a hold...Elincia shivered as she remembered how close Aimee got to Ike on several occasions, most of them rather cunning.

"Lucia, get Geoffrey to gather the knights. Regardless of events here, Ludveck is still planning his revolution." Elincia ordered. Lucia bowed as she left.

"Knights? You're moving a force to crush someone?" Sasuke poked his head out of the darkness carefully, peering for any trace of Sakura.

"Shhh! Sasuke, you shouldn't-" Elincia was cut off.

"I hear her at night, that sickeningly sweet voice promising much pain...If I hear it any longer, I'm gonna go insane..." Sasuke held his head with wide eyes.

"You're an Uchiha, you're already insane." Elincia deadpanned.

Sasuke's head snapped up. "Let me guess...Itachi." It wasn't a question.

Elincia nodded. "Yes, he said something about an eye driving somebody insane, until they become a paranoid husk of a person. Strangely similar to how you are now..."

"Being paranoid is normal when the smallest slip could cause you to die." Sasuke said coldly.

"I believe he said something about mood swings as well..." Elincia trailed off.

"Damn it! Just let me go with the knights!" Sasuke yelled.

"SASUKE! ! !" Ino and Sakura yelled, sounding thankfully distant.

"I can't stay here...let me go with them...please..." Sasuke pleaded.

"Run to a place called Calill's bar. One of the knights is always drunk there." Elincia replied. Sasuke was gone before she could blink. She sighed. _It's gonna be one of __**those**__ days..._


	51. Royal knights

**Royal knights**

Sasuke eventually found the bar. It took longer to find because Sasuke had been confined to the castle for his own safety.

He entered to see pink hair sitting at one of the tables, and ran back away from the building, straight into a bored looking man with blue hair.

The man helped him up. "Hmm, I don't think I've seen you before."

Sasuke trembled. "Pink..."

The man sighed. "What's Makalov done this time?" The man walked into the bar. Several minutes passed, and he came back out with the pink haired man in tow. A pale, black haired woman followed them, shaking her head.

"I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Geoffrey, commander of the Crimean royal knights." He extended his hand.

Sasuke's eyes widened, and he shook the hand gratefully. "Sasuke. Elincia said I could go with you."

"You seem terrified of the colour pink..." Geoffrey asked, arching his eyebrow.

"...Fangirls..." Sasuke shivered.

"Ah." Geoffrey nodded. That explained everything. "Ok, welcome to the Royal knights, Sasuke."

.

"Ok, so I'm not supposed to kill them, but we need to capture the castle. That doesn't make much sense, even if they are Crimean citizens." Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"You forget, most of these people have only ever used a pitchfork before, maybe the odd axe. We're paid professionals, trained in warfare. We're just trying to keep the losses down." Geoffrey replied.

Sasuke understood. It was like sending fresh Genín into the Chunín exams. It was mere luck that his own group made it as far as they had. Of course, luck could always throw the odds against them..."Be careful. I've faced similar odds before and come out near the top. Plans almost never work out like they should."

Geoffrey closed his eyes. "...We know." He turned around. "Form up! Prepare to storm Castle Felirae!"

The knights spread out and lowered their lances, and charged.

.

To say the battle was one-sided would be an understatement. Wounded bodies littered the ground outside the castle. Something was very wrong, and Sasuke knew it.

The final nail in that coffin was when an anti-siege catapult came nowhere near any of the Crimean knights. One needed training in order to use those effectively, and that meant there was no-one with any combat training inside the castle.

Sasuke approached the red armoured sub-commander, Kieran. "There's no-one trained in the castle. Where's Ludveck's elite guard?"

Kieran absorbed the hidden meaning faster than Sasuke gave him credit for. "...Melior. Commander! ! !"

"Kieran?" Geoffrey turned to face his second-in-command.

"Ludveck's troops aren't here." Kieran informed him.

"As I expected. It was far too easy to get here...Kieran, gather the scouts and head for Fort Alpea." Geoffrey ordered.

"Fort Alpea? But we need to rescue the queen!" Kieran responded with a frown.

"That's where the queen is. I'm placing you in command of the rescue operation. I need to finish things here." Geoffrey turned around to converse with another soldier demanding his attention.

"...Yes sir. Sasuke, we're about to move out." Kieran narrowed his eyes. "Ludveck is going to pay."

.

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I found out I can't write Danved. I tried a few times, but I gave up.


	52. Biding time

**Biding time**

Lucia prowled the streets at night, seeking her contact. Maintaining a spy network was hard work, but it paid off. She glanced around cautiously, and slipped into the house silently.

She found the man inside, though he was heavily sedated. Lucia realised she had been found out mere moments before the door burst open behind her. Instead of panicking and attacking her assailant, she calmly turned to face the man who uncovered her.

"Ludveck." Lucia stared at him coldly.

"You are everything they said and more, Lucia." Ludveck shook his head sadly. "Too bad you're so loyal to Elincia, I would love such a woman to be by my side."

"Elincia isn't here. And I have ways of letting her know I've been captured. Now, you're back to square one." Lucia replied calmly, obscuring her bluff.

"Yes, the queen almost escaped me. Fort Alpea is such a lonely place..." Ludveck smiled.

"And you think you've cornered a meek little mouse...I pity you." Lucia shook her head.

"I see the queen's advisor still possesses some secrets..." Ludveck closed his eyes...

.

"Hmm, a flare. Seems things went like we thought they would...hm?" Haar glanced down at a box that wasn't there before. He opened the box, then snapped it shut again. "...That could be a problem."

.

"Queen Elincia." Haar walked calmly into the room.

Elincia glanced up at the man. There was a serious air surrounding him, one that was almost never there. "Haar?"

"The signal flare's been lit. There's also something else." Haar handed her the wooden box.

Elincia opened it, and saw the blue hair inside. "Lucia...Set the defences. This man has ridiculed me long enough. Crimea will have order." Elincia stood up, and walked out, paying no attention to anyone.

Haar sighed. _Is it really too much to ask for a little nap?_

.

"Amiti...the royal blade is once again wielded in battle." Elincia drew the blade from its scabbard, but could not help feeling powerless. She couldn't even save her sister, how was she supposed to stabilise a nation? Especially one who didn't see her as capable?

"Elincia." Shino walked into the room. "You are not alone. Without the people, a king is a king of nothing, and yet a mob of people without a ruler cannot move as one. People have followed you this far, those people believe you are capable of ruling this country."

"...Shino...?" Elincia blinked.

"Follow your feelings. There, your will is stronger." Shino walked out.

"..." Elincia stared after him. _Could he have been a little __**less**__ cryptic?_

.

"Ninja training must be harsh." Kieran noted, watching Sasuke keep up with the light cavalry.

"Speed is a measure of power in our world. The faster you can move, the harder you are to kill." Sasuke responded, not the slightest bit out of breath.

"Ah. Makes sense." Kieran nodded. Perhaps that should be a part of his next training regime...

Sasuke's curse mark flared painfully, but he continued on regardless. _What in this world could set it off...?_

.

.

The curse mark was in fact Orochimaru. He is in the dungeons below Castle Goldoa, and trying various methods to escape.


	53. A queen's will

Sorry about the long time between updates, but my life has been more than a bit hectic. Will probably be another week before my next update.

.

.

**A queen's will**

Elincia returned to the central hall, Amiti housed within its scabbard. People rushed everywhere, hastening to fortify the castle.

"Queen Elincia!" A familiar voice yelled.

Elincia turned to face Calill, the blond fire sage in charge of the bar the knights often frequented. "Yes, Calill?"

"Lucia asked me to help you in the case something like this happened, whether you like it or not." Calill adopted a rebellious tone.

Elincia merely smiled. "Right now, I'll use all the help I can get."

Sakura entered the room holding an axe. "Those bastards won't know what hit them!"

Elincia looked at the axe, seriously considering taking it away from her. "Do you know how to use that?"

"Kieran taught me." Sakura shrugged. She didn't use all her strength in those training sessions, making sure she could use the thing before she started destroying stuff with one.

"...Whatever, just don't swing it anywhere near our soldiers." Elincia decided that a warhammer would be very effective in that girl's grip. She could use the axe until they got one for her.

"BREACH!" Someone yelled.

Elincia wasn't even aware the siege had started. "Already?"

"This man let them in!" A soldier threw a man at her feet.

The man looked up at the queen without fear. "Ludveck would have won here anyway. I was only trying to end this pointless war."

"Traitorous scum!" The soldier prepared to execute the man.

"No! Killing him will solve nothing, now!" Elincia yelled. "We need to stop Ludveck!"

.

Elincia's forces lined the inner battlements, as Ludveck's elite rebels stormed the castle.

Elincia rode forward on her pegasus to speak with Ludveck personally.

"So, the queen didn't run and hide...you're more naive than I thought." Ludveck smiled warmly.

"You have disturbed the peace for far too long. Why did you do it?" Elincia asked.

"If you must know, I believe you are too naive to fit the role of ruler. Hard, heartless decisions must be made for the good of the nation, decisions I do not think you can make." Ludveck responded calmly.

"So, all of this, this whole revolution...was a test! ? !" Elincia shouted the end of her sentence. "Thousands of Crimean lives, wasted because you wanted power? ! ?"

Ludveck winced. He didn't think of it that way. It marred his chivalrous, charismatic image.

"Reinforcements!" Someone in the inner courtyard shouted. "It's the Royal knights!"

The massive iron gate deformed, before one side fell off its hinges. A bat-like form could be seen degenerating into Sasuke on the other side, out of breath from tearing the fortification down without jutsu. Kieran led the knights in to trap Ludveck's forces within.

_Hmm, this was unexpected. I can't take on both the queen and the Royal knights with only my elite guard._ Ludveck ran through his options. _"Thousands of Crimean lives, wasted because you wanted power? ! ?"_ Elincia's voice thundered through his head. "...Drop your weapons. I know when I'm beaten."

Elincia's forces secured the insurgents, and Ludveck realised the knights that had arrived were merely the light scouts, barely a tenth of the total force. _Good with bluffs as well...perhaps I underestimated you, Elincia._


	54. Last resort

**Last resort**

Elincia walked down to Melior's dungeons, where Ludveck was now held.

"Why is everyone trying to make my job harder? After the war, we need a stable ruler, and all everyone thinks about is starting another war!" Elincia was frustrated. No-one seemed to accept that she could rule Crimea.

"No-one thinks you're ready for the position of Queen, Elincia. I myself am not entirely convinced, however I believe there is potential there. You handled the rebellion rather nicely, in hindsight." Ludveck smiled his charismatic smile.

"Don't think I've forgiven you for that. Better get comfortable in there, because you're going to be staying in there for a long time." Elincia hissed.

"I wonder if you'll be saying that in half an hour..." Ludveck thought out loud.

"What? Why?" Elincia snapped.

"And ruin the surprise?" Ludveck giggled. Yes, giggled.

Elincia tried calming herself down, and returned to the throne room.

.

Geoffrey stumbled through the door, obviously puffed.

"Geoffrey?" Elincia stood up. For Geoffrey to be this exhausted after such a short run, it meant he was carrying some very bad news.

"It's Lucia. The rebels have her in a noose, demanding that Ludveck be set free." Geoffrey did his best to deliver the message clearly.

"Bring Sakura to the battlements. It seems I need to speak with Ludveck." Elincia stormed off.

.

"I see you now know what I meant before. I urge you to let me free, as I'm the only one who can give the order to free her."Ludveck smiled.

"And you expect me to believe that? I saw how many documents you'd made to keep her out of danger, so I doubt you'd put her in danger now." Elincia walked back out, while Ludveck dropped to the floor.

It wasn't a bluff, his rebels really would kill her. "Lucia...I'm sorry."

.

"Why did you ask me to get her?" Geoffrey whispered to the queen. Sakura was scary in her own way.

"Because of her strength." Elincia replied. "Whether or not this is a bluff, it can show what can happen to those who outright oppose me."

Geoffrey merely nodded.

"Sakura, you are to stop the execution by destroying the platform, then abducting the woman the rebels are trying to kill." Elincia ordered.

Sakura grumbled. They had taken her away from searching for Sasuke's safe room, for _this_? Oh well. She'll just have to get this done quickly, then.

She focused her chakra in her legs, and leaped toward the platform...

.

"Come on, it's a clean shot." A man sighed. The kid beside him knit his brow in concentration, however the arrow remained in his grip.

The red haired man sighed again. "What's the problem?"

"I'm nervous. What if I hit her?" The boy whined.

"It's too late for nerves, Rolf. If you're not up to it, leave it to the master, eh? Watch. One shot. No hesitation." The master archer grabbed his bow, knocked an arrow, and fired.

The arrow pierced the rope holding Lucia, and a blue haired man caught her as she fell. Then he nearly dropped her as the platform promptly shattered.

Ike looked up. A pink haired girl, holding an axe, was looking at him. _Please don't say Aimee's been recruiting..._

"The queen's men are attacking!" Someone yelled. "Surround them!"

A tornado tore through the ranks of soldiers, allowing Ike and Sakura to find a more defensible position. One by one, the Greil Mercenaries slipped into the fray, tipping the odds in favour of the queen.

"Form up! Surround them all! Don't let a single one es-ULK!" The man was now trying to get the axe out of his chest, courtesy of Titania.

The fight proceeded with the Greil Mercenaries easily overwhelming the less trained civilian rebels.

.

Sasuke watched the battle from his window. How people not trained to be ninja could so easily defeat that many opponents merited closer observation. If he could convince Elincia to let him go with them...

.

"So, you're not a fangirl, are you?" Ike asked Sakura.

"Of course not! Sasuke loves me back! Even if he needs a little help admitting it..." Sakura trailed off.

Ike backed away slightly. A fangirl? Yes. His fangirl? Thankfully not. "Uh, I really need to go now. I can't visit Melior and _not_ visit the queen."

"Ok." Sakura returned to turning the castle inside out, three bricks at a time.

.

"So, Crimea's gotten better with you at its head." Ike addressed the queen.

"You're a part of this country too, Ike. We would never have been able to stand on our own if it weren't for you." Elincia replied.

"I know. I'm proud of what my country's become. By the way, this is from Bastian." Ike handed her a letter.

"No it's not." Elincia replied almost instantly.

Ike waved her objection off. "We got Soren to decode it for you. I have the original here if you want a headache..."

"No, I'll take your word for it." Elincia liked being in contact with her advisor, but his way of saying things, or not saying them, actually managed to make her feel dizzy. "Bastian didn't verify this with me, so I could refuse to pay you. But I won't. You strengthened Crimea's image today, so consider this a mere advance payment. Actually, several laguz ambassadors are looking for you, so I'll give this to Titania instead."

"Oh really? Who?" Ike asked with genuine curiosity.

"Why don't you just go and see them?" Elincia smiled.

"Ok." Ike shrugged. Inwardly, he was shaking his head. _Why do women always have to be so difficult?_

"Oh, and Ike? The last message Bastian gave me contains information you would die to know. He said 'The Black Knight lives'."

Ike's eyes widened considerably, then he turned to meet the laguz ambassadors. One problem at a time.

.

Ike opened the door.

"Well well, look who decided to show up." A blue haired cat laguz smiled at his old friend.

"Ranulf? It's been years now, hasn't it?" Ike asked the cat.

"Ike..." Leanne said hesitantly.

"Leanne too? What's the occasion?" Ike almost expected there to be some sort of party to just suddenly appear in front of him. Then he spotted the Uchiha. "...I-Ita...chi?" Ike whispered with disbelief.

"No, no Itachi. Sasuke." Leanne clarified.

"Ah, explains the reason he didn't seem to grow up. You're his little brother, aren't you?" Ike unknowingly lit the very short fuse.

"I will kill that man!" Sasuke yelled, fists clenched.

Ike decided to poke the obviously sensitive subject. "Why? He seems pretty nice to me..."

"He single-handedly murdered our whole family! Every man, woman...and child...except me..." Sasuke clenched his jaw at the painful memory. Leanne visibly paled, as she saw Sasuke's personal version of the Serenes massacre.

"Strange, he wasn't like that at all when he was here. And that was only three years ago." Ike thought aloud.

"Where...where did he go? Three years ago, that was when everyone last saw him. Why?" Sasuke fished for answers. He certainly didn't expect to catch anything, especially considering how close mouthed the others were.

"Itachi and his friends touched the Fire Emblem, even though I warned them against it, and vanished in a spectacular explosion of blue flames. Nobody thinks they're dead, especially given Itachi's strange control over the mystic fire, but none of them have ever been seen since." Ike explained with a shrug.

"Uh, Fire Emblem?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow. The blue flames he'd seen himself, they weren't hot. As for this 'Fire Emblem' though, he had no clue.

"Lehran's medallion." Ike paused at Sasuke's blank look. "You mean, Elincia never told you about the Fire Emblem?" Sasuke shook his head. "Damn, I've never been any good at explaining it. Uh, Leanne, I know you don't really speak our language, but could you explain the Fire Emblem to Sasuke? I need to talk to Ranulf anyway."

Leanne nodded, and began a stuttering story about how there was a dark god trapped within the medallion, and how it feeds on chaos energy, waiting for the right moment to break free and kill both beorc and laguz.

.

"So, I assume you're looking for me?" Ike asked Ranulf.

"Yeah...where do I begin...?" Ranulf shook his head.

"The start?" Ike suggested.

"No, that'd take far too long...I got it. Gallia received a couple of royal visitors a few days ago, two people we didn't think existed. One was the eldest prince of Serenes, Rafiel-" Ranulf was cut off.

"Wait, he didn't die in the Massacre?" Ike frowned.

"Now you know why going from the start would take too long." Ranulf sighed. Ike gestured for Ranulf to continue. "Anyway, the other was the current queen of the wolf nation, Hatary."

"Ok, where are they from?" Ike wanted to know that information.

"Beyond the desert of death. There's a small wealth of oases there, and Hatary sprung from the resources." Ranulf explained what little he knew. Ike nodded. "Anyway, those two revealed something about the Serenes Massacre that nobody but Rafiel knew. Ashnard didn't do it."

"What! ? ! Who did?" Ike was completely captivated by the information.

"Begnion." Ranulf said the one word Ike somehow knew he was going to hear.

"The empress wouldn't-" Ike got cut off.

"The empress didn't do it." Ranulf explained.

"The senate." Ike sighed.

Ranulf nodded. "We sent some messengers demanding to know why they did it, but all we got back was denials...and our messengers' corpses."

Ike blinked with shock at the calm brutality of the senate, but then realised this could also merely be how Ranulf presented the info. "How excessive were the denials?"

"Fairly over-the-top, enough for us to believe they did do it. We sent a message to the empress, but we never got a reply from that one."

"Hrmm...so why tell me?" Ike wondered aloud.

"Gallia fully intends to go to war over this, with the help of Phoenicis. Unfortunately, most laguz aren't too big on tactics..." Ranulf left the sentence hanging.

"And you want Soren to convince them to both use and appreciate tactics." Ike filled in.

"Well, we thought you would suffice, but Soren's much better." Ranulf agreed.

"We _are_ free agents at the moment, so Ranulf, you just hired the Greil Mercenaries." Ike smiled.

"That's the first good news I've heard in days, old friend." Ranulf smiled as well, shaking hands with Ike.

.

.

Considering I haven't updated much in a while, I thought I would treat everyone to a longer chapter.

Updates won't be consistent until the beginning of next week, so just bear with me.


	55. Sanaki

**Sanaki**

Jiraiya stood outside the door to the empress' chambers.

Those pegasus knights had bashed him quite badly for being the author of those books, but he no longer looked the part.

Those women decided that he needed to see the empress, because those strange people also possessed his books. He had make-up on to cover the new scratches, and to make him look more awake, new clothes, because the old ones were now rags that couldn't be worn anymore, straight hair, for reasons he didn't even know, and more perfume than a daimyo's daughter.

Now he understood why women took so long to get ready for a date. It was an experience he didn't want to replicate.

That said, they did say the empress should meet him, as he was obviously from the same place as the strangers. Jiraiya's mind wandered, thinking of wooing the apparently rather young ruler.

Those thoughts died as soon as he saw the child empress.

Yes, even Jiraiya had morals, as hard as they were to find. Even he thought trying to woo a _pre-teen_ was just wrong. Without the perverted thoughts running through his head, he was actually able to enter a meaningful conversation with a girl, something normally reserved only for an almost pissed-off Tsunade.

"So, you are from the place Itachi is from." The empress, Sanaki, stated.

"Yes, although the reports I've heard about him since arriving...here, are positively glowing, a stark contrast to his top class criminal record he possesses among several of the elemental countries." Jiraiya responded.

"These...elemental countries, we possess no records of them whatsoever. There was a flood about 800 years ago that sunk all other continents beneath the sea, so it could be possible that the elemental countries survived that without our knowledge." Sanaki told him.

"I doubt it. Even though our countries haven't existed for very long, a flood of that size would have been passed down by word of mouth at the very least, and this is the first I've heard of it. I was at the head of a spy network, so I would have heard it somewhere if it happened." Jiraiya waved the theory away.

"Was there anything unusual you noticed before coming here?" Sanaki asked the obvious, yet still unthought-of question.

"Actually, now that you mention it, there were a lot of blue flames that weren't hot, all where the people had disappeared from our village." Jiraiya wondered if it held any significance.

"The Fire Emblem..." Sanaki whispered.

"Hmm?" Jiraiya raised his eyebrows.

"This has just gone beyond mortal speculation. The Fire Emblem houses a dark god, and we don't know what the flames can be used for." Sanaki glanced away.

"Where is the Fire Emblem?" Jiraiya asked.

"It rests in Gallia on the far side of the continent. The relationships between our two countries have been uncivil at best for 2 centuries, however their current king, Caineghis, would be willing to speak with me. Actually, I wonder how Gallia is at the moment..." Sanaki thought out loud.

.

.

A brief recap of recent events.

Sanaki hasn't gotten the message from Gallia about the Serenes massacre, the senate got to it first, however they captured that messenger instead of killing him.

Tsunade has been dragged along for the war against Begnion by Tibarn, her abnormal strength and lack of hatred towards the laguz has earned her a position in his elite squad.

Orochimaru is trapped in the dungeons of Castle Goldoa, and has made many escape attempts. None have even gotten him out of his cell, however.

Choji has been left with Caineghis in Gallia because Caineghis enjoys his company.

Ike along with Sasuke and Shikamaru are about to begin the war against Begnion.

Sakura still believes Elincia has Sasuke still hidden in the castle somewhere.

Ino and Shino have been found by Aimee's caravan, along with Haar, Nephenee, Brom, etc.

Naruto, Hinata, Kiba and Jarod are still helping Daein rebuild after the change in leadership.

I think that's everyone. I will try to make updates everyday, but I do have writer's block at the moment.

Senge.


	56. Laguz camp

**Laguz camp**

The Greil Mercenaries, along with Sasuke, Ranulf and Leanne, arrived at the laguz camp after a short walk.

"Whoa, I'd hate to be on Begnion's side right now." Ike gaped at the sheer size of the laguz forces.

"Yeah, but if we just charge in like we always do, Begnion will crush us like twigs. A couple of siege engines, a few fire magi, and it's a massacre." Ranulf shook his head. No matter how many times the laguz attack, they always do the same thing.

"And if we can take out the siege engines and kill the magi, the laguz win, right?" Ike smiled.

"Yeah, pretty much." Ranulf walked into the camp.

"Ranulf! You're back! Oh, you found him." A red haired lion came out of a larger than medium sized tent, although not the biggest.

"Commander. Yes, I found him. I got lucky." Ranulf looked away from him, and found an excuse to walk away.

"So, you're Ike. My uncle told me a lot about you." The lion smiled.

"Your uncle?" Ike asked.

"The king." The lion explained.

"Ah." Ike blinked

"Anyway, my uncle said 'Watch Ike, and you will grow stronger.'." The lion quoted.

"Really? King Caineghis said that?" Ike asked, a little shocked.

The man nodded. "I look forward to fighting with you." And he walked away.

"...Soren, what's your opinion of him?" Ike asked his friend.

"Too hung up on honour. Could be a problem if things go bad. Still, he seems willing to learn, even from a beorc. Impatient, and Ranulf tried to get away from him at the first opportunity. Hot-headed, I would guess." Soren told him.

"We'll see, I guess. Wait a second, I don't even know his name..." Ike realised.

"Skrimir, the heir to the throne." Ranulf reappeared. "And the main reason for my headache."

"That bad, huh?" Ike asked.

"The king asked me to make sure Skrimir doesn't get his teeth bashed in, but I'm tempted to do it myself. He's arrogant, thinks he's the strongest, which might be true but that's beside the point. He doesn't listen to me at all, and he's gonna get us all killed. Unless Soren can show him how useful tactics are." Ranulf supported Soren's quick analysis of the man.

"...Okay, now I see why you needed us." Ike felt sorry for his old friend.

"Uh, about that...are you sure you want to be on the laguz side of this dispute? I mean, you are a beorc and all..." Ranulf trailed off.

"Don't worry about it. I talked it over with everyone, and we all want to be on your side. Begnion is at fault, so we fight Begnion. Hell, even Shinon agreed, and he'd do just about anything to annoy me." Ike explained.

Ranulf sighed with relief. "Wait, Shinon? Oh, great."

"I'll see if Gatrie can keep him in line, Ashera knows he won't listen to me." Ike told him. "Besides, even the enemy wants to wipe that infuriating smirk off his face."

Ranulf laughed a little at that. "Thanks, Ike."

.

Shikamaru had somehow gotten away from the rest of the group. He found a nice tree, not too far from camp, but not too close either. He lay down in the branches, just watching the clouds go by.

"You're with the mercenaries, aren't you?" Someone called out from below.

Shikamaru didn't recognise the voice, so he glanced down at the speaker. It was a female cat laguz.

"Yeah, though I'm a little new." Shikamaru wondered how to make her go away. He went here so he could be alone.

"I see. What's your role in the group?" She asked.

"Secondary strategist." Shikamaru replied simply.

"Wow, aren't you talkative." The woman rolled her eyes.

"I'm a little surprised you want to speak to me at all. I was told most of the laguz would avoid us." Shikamaru turned back to the clouds. "Besides, I came here to be alone."

If he was looking, Shikamaru would have seen her shrug, and walk away.

_Why are women so troublesome?_

.

.

The person talking to Shikamaru was Lethe, not Lyre. And this won't become a pairing, I have someone else planned for Shikamaru. They will merely be friends.

The next chapter is coming along a lot easier than this one did, so everyone can expect more consistent updates.


	57. Tactics

**Tactics**

"Ok, before Skrimir gets here, we need you to come up with a plan to stop us from getting killed. Ideas?" Ranulf asked, getting straight down to business.

"Well, you can't go up against the fire magi, you'll be fried. We need to take them out, along with the ballistae. If we take them out, you should have no trouble overwhelming the local militia." Ike supplied.

Soren nodded. "Considering the forest surrounding the fort, we should be able to sneak around at night, picking them off silently." Soren added.

Shikamaru walked in. "Unfortunately, that won't work this time."

Soren raised his eyebrows by a fraction. "Oh? Why not?"

"Their leader is completely paranoid that there will be a laguz assault, and strengthens his defences every night. Attacking at dawn is our best bet, when the sun will be in their eyes, and tired after their night shift." Shikamaru outlined his reasons, and his own plan.

"And how do you know this?" Soren's face remained completely unreadable.

"I was trying to find a place to be completely alone, when I accidentally found the fort. I did some reconnaissance, and discovered this information." Shikamaru shrugged.

"...Fair enough. See if you can hold off the assault until the early morning, Ranulf." Soren concluded.

"Heh, no promises there, but I'll try." Ranulf left to begin the long and painful task of keeping the commander from doing something stupid.

.

Sasuke was actually enjoying his time here so far. Because he looked like a beorc, the laguz gave him a lot of space, and his brooding, dark personality only served as an additional barrier. Yes, this place was almost perfect for Sasuke and his thoughts.

Almost.

"You should listen to your senior, you know. I can be a really nice guy once you get to know me. Hell, I might even give you some table scraps." Shinon smiled mockingly at the cat.

"T-T-TABLE SCRAPS! ? ! Oh, you're asking for it!" The cat went to transform, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Lyre, you don't want me to tell commander Ranulf you couldn't control yourself around a beorc, do you?" The older tiger counselled.

"N-No..." Lyre could barely contain her anger. She sent a glare that would have paralysed most people, but it barely fazed Shinon, then walked off.

"I apologize for my subordinate's actions. Please forgive her." The tiger bowed, before following the cat.

"Hmph, I think I hate the tiger more than the cat. The ones who think they're just as good as we are, are the worst." Shinon mumbled.

Sasuke blinked. Let's see, arrogant to the point of getting the shit bashed out of you, check. Stronger than most to back up that arrogance, check. Completely calm in a normally stressful situation, check.

I think Sasuke just found a friend.


	58. First blood

**First blood**

It was 4 in the morning. Ranulf had done rather well in preventing Skrimir from attacking the fort so far.

"You know, the plan was to attack at sunrise, not during the night." Ranulf still tried to prevent Skrimir from raising the alarm just yet. Ike's group was still eliminating the ballistae and a few lone fire magi, so Ranulf _had_ to give him all the time he could.

"Bah! We've waited for days to shred beorc, and they are within our grasp. Why do we need to wait any longer?" Skrimir asked him.

Ranulf suddenly had an idea that could prevent Skrimir from attacking until the right time. "Actually, Ike is getting rid of the beorcs' more...cowardly weapons." Ranulf chose his words carefully, trying to appeal to Skrimir's sense of honour. It backfired.

"Then we must help him! For Gallia!" Skrimir roared, and shifted into his lion state. The rest of the warriors followed suit, lighting the forest a light blue momentarily. Ranulf hit his head with an open palm, before shifting as well. Ranulf fervently hoped Skrimir wouldn't be bald for the next 2 years, he would be just about skinned for that.

.

Soren heard the collective roars, and decided that stealth was pointless now. "Quickly, finish them." Soren barely finished his sentence before chanting a wind spell.

Shikamaru sighed, and sent shuriken out in a wide arc, towards some magi and their guards. You don't make Jonín unless you are fully prepared to kill in order to reach your objective.

Ike's broadsword was heavy enough to pierce a heavily armoured soldier, and he turned back briefly to survey the damage. The first thing he saw, was Mist parry a swordsman's stroke, and promptly kicked him in the balls. Ike winced involuntarily as she then stabbed them. That swordsman wasn't getting back up in a hurry, if at all.

Turning to a less sensitive area of carnage, he saw Titania bash aside a spear with the butt end of her axe, and smashed the head of it into the shield of the soldier wielding it. Oscar rammed his horse into the fallen soldier, picked up the lance, and threw it behind him. It knocked an axe aside that was about to hit Rolf, that needed that little bit of extra time to shoot the fatal arrow into the axe man's neck.

Ike nodded to himself. That was some pretty good teamwork, even if they were a little rusty. He glanced ahead. Mia was standing in the middle of 5 or so dead soldiers, looking quite angry.

"I can't get the blood off the sword!" Mia was waving it around frantically.

Shikamaru really hoped she wasn't an air-head. "Have you tried wiping it on something?"

She levelled a glare at him. "Do you think I would be stupid enough _not_ to try that first?"

"I hoped you weren't." Shikamaru told her honestly.

Boyd walked up beside him. "Nice save."

Mia noticed the sudden change in Shikamaru's expression. "What did he just say? ! ?"

Shikamaru quickly sifted through his options that wouldn't result in immediate pain. Truth would cause Boyd to get hurt, but it was a small price to pay. "Nice save."

You could almost see the sparks fly from Mia. Boyd shot a betrayed look at Shikamaru, before looking at the enraged Mia. Boyd did the one thing he could. "RHYS! ! !"

Ike shook his head briefly. Some things never changed. He looked over to the approaching laguz battalion. They were nowhere to be found. Ike glanced around worriedly. They couldn't all have been killed before they got _this_ far, could they? Ike got his answer in the form of a terrified scream from inside the fort.

"SUB-HUMANS! ! !"

Oh, Skrimir had already taken the fort. As long as he spared the innocents, it was ok.

Flaguerre had fallen.


	59. Hide and seek

**Hide and seek**

"That went well." Ike told his friend.

"Yeah, we only lost five or six warriors. I know that sounds cold, but that's much better than the 80 odd we would normally have lost in such an assault." Ranulf sighed. If only Skrimir would listen...

"Hey, how about we invite Skrimir to the next meeting? I think if he hears what we do to get around defences he would call 'cowardly', then he might begin to use tactics himself." Ike suggested.

"I doubt it would work, but if it does, my job would be a lot easier." Ranulf was being a hopeful realist.

"We'll see, I guess." Ike shrugged.

"Mugill is our next target. Begnion's forces will have nowhere to rest once we take the fort." Ranulf told him.

"I'll let Soren and Shikamaru know. I wonder what they'll come up with this time..." Ike walked off.

"Now, how to avoid Skrimir so I _don't_ have to put up with him at this meeting..." Ranulf muttered to himself.

.

Shikamaru was sitting at the base of a tree, his hands making the final seal for 'shadow possession', in an attempt to reopen his jutsu repertoire.

"Hi." Mia said from behind him.

Most people would say Shikamaru didn't react whatsoever, but he did. Two eyelashes twitched, and his heart rate rose by 2 beats per minute. "How's Boyd?"

"Can't you be even a bit surprised?" Mia scowled at the turning figure.

_Ugh, women are so troublesome..._ "A surprised ninja is a dead ninja." _How did she get so close without me realising it?_ Shikamaru kept his voice neutral, disguising his thoughts.

"No, Sasuke's easily surprised." Mia laughed a bit at this. "Just walk past him and say 'pop' and he jumps a little, and mutters about his personal bubble."

_File that under 'Things to tell Naruto'..._ "Sasuke's also insane." Shikamaru said simply.

"Aren't we all?" Mia asked with a smile.

_Change topic._ "I see you got the blood off the sword." Shikamaru noted.

"No, I didn't. I got a new one, there were an awful lot of unscratched blades lying around, so I picked a couple up." Mia shrugged.

"Because you're good enough to drop foes before they can swing a weapon at you?" Shikamaru tried to put himself out of the potential danger zone, even though he didn't know where that was.

Mia looked at him for a few seconds. "Flattery won't get you anywhere, you know."

Shikamaru lied down. "I still don't. Hey, what do you think that cloud looks like?"

There weren't many in the sky, so it was rather easy to tell which one he was talking about. It was a very irregular shape.

"Hmm...uh, I dunno. What do you think it looks like?" Mia asked Shikamaru.

No answer.

Mia glanced at the place next to her, only to find Shikamaru had disappeared.

Tick...tick...tick...boom.

"Bastard!" Mia scanned her surroundings for the ninja.

.

.

Sorry about the slow update, real life was poisoning my muse.

To make up for it, I will include my first draft version of the 'Lyre and Shinon' conversation.

.

.

**Omake**

.

"And this woman, she was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!" Gatrie looked like he had been smashed in the head by something, and didn't care.

"Hmph. Maybe a pretty face will keep me sane." Shinon was grumpy. "I don't want to spend any more time with these sub-humans than I have to."

Unfortunately, Lyre was within earshot. She had almost identical features to her sister. She was incredibly energetic and itching for a fight. And Shinon had just become her target. "What did you say! ? ! ? !"

Shinon saw her, and smirked, tilting his face up arrogantly. "You heard me, I don't want to be around you."

"Take that back." She snarled.

Shinon almost laughed. "Oh? Kitty wants to play? Let's dance, hairball!"

Lyre shifted, and hissed.

"That's enough!" a tiger laguz came and broke up the fight-to-be. He had silver hair, and red triangle marks, two on each cheek. He held himself like someone who was in command. "Lyre! Do you want me to say to our commander that you couldn't control yourself around the beorc?" he finished quietly.

"What? But, Kysha, he started it!"

"I don't care who started it. Now, apologize."

"Grrrr."

"You should listen to him. I'm a really nice guy once you get to know me. I might even let you have some table scraps." Shinon was still trying to provoke her.

"T-Table scraps? ! ? How, how _dare_ you!"

"Lyre." Kysha only said one word. Lyre stalked off, reverting to human form. "I am sorry for my subordinate's actions. Please forgive her."

Shinon smiled as Kysha walked away. "I swear, that guy was worse than the girl. Acting like he's just as good as us." He shook his head. And then he realised that Gatrie was more out of it that usual. "Uh, hello?"

"Her name is Lyre...what a gorgeous name. It just rolls of the tongue. Lyre..."

Ranulf had just shown up. "Lyre? You know where she is?"

"Already engaged! HAHAHA!" Shinon cracked up.

Ranulf face-palmed. "Over that way. She ran off after Shinon made her angry." Gatrie told him.


	60. Commanders

**Commanders**

Skrimir entered the tent, to see Ranulf, Ike and Soren sitting inside.

"Why did you call me here, Ranulf?" Skrimir asked, seemingly amused rather than angry.

"You need to understand all points of war, not just battle, Commander." Ranulf replied. "Anyway, how are we going to get into the fort this time, Ike? They'll know of our approach."

"Why, that's easy, Ranulf." Skrimir shook his head. "I challenge their leader to a one-on-one duel, and he'll fight me. I'll win, and we'll be on our way."

Soren opened his eyes. "Do you have any idea how stupid you sound?"

"Soren..." Ike warned.

"Beorc don't make a wall meant to keep laguz out, just to stand in front of it when they attack." Soren shook his head.

"Then how are we supposed to fight them?" Skrimir looked confused.

"If you would listen for a moment, Skrimir, that's why we're having this meeting." Ranulf explained calmly.

"Bah! Just words sent over a table. Once you find a way to use my strength, _then_ tell me to listen. Anything else is just a waste of my time." Skrimir stood, and left the tent, running into Shikamaru just outside, still within earshot of the rest of the meeting.

"I guess the plan didn't work, huh?" Shikamaru asked the lion.

"They don't even have a plan." Skrimir snorted.

"They have a plan to save many Gallian lives, Skrimir. And that plan is to make _you_ a better commander." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed slightly.

"There is nothing wrong with my leadership, _beorc_." Skrimir stormed off, leaving Shikamaru to walk into the tent.

"He lives in his own fantasy world, doesn't he?" Shikamaru shook his head.

"Anyway, any ideas, Soren?" Ike asked.

"We need to raise the gate, and to do that, we need to be inside." Soren began.

"Getting in is easy." Shikamaru put in. "We pretend we were mercenaries hired to defend Flaguerre, but we didn't get there in time. No-one will suspect us, because we're beorc, and no laguz in sight."

"...Better than I had." Soren admitted grudgingly. "With his plan, we will organise it so we get one whole wall to ourselves, and we let the laguz in. The laguz secure the spare weapons, and the defenders will have to surrender. If any fight, we make an example of them."

"What if they don't believe you?" Ranulf asked.

Ike shrugged. "We come back here and make a plan B."

.

.

My muse turned to my unpublished stories, so I haven't worked on this one lately. In fact, I wrote this chapter without the muse, only writing it because I'm sure a few people are waiting for it. Hopefully this will steer my muse back into the story, but even if it doesn't, I'm not abandoning it.


	61. Infiltration

**Infiltration**

The Greil Mercenaries walked up to the gate, and gave their brief explanation. They were allowed in, with orders to go straight to the tower in the centre of town.

Only Soren and Ike entered, however.

"Mercenaries?" The man in charge asked them. After seeing them nod, he sighed with relief. "Thank Ashera...Ok, I'll get straight down to business. After the sudden attack on Flaguerre, everyone's been on edge. There was no warning, so the soldiers have been awake for almost 3 days straight, but if they _do_ have to fight the sub-humans, they'll be in no shape to do much. Would it be too much to ask if your troupe could watch the entire keep while my soldiers get some rest?"

Ike kept his mouth shut. It was too good, and he might blow their cover.

"Not at all. We have experience with the laguz and their tactics, no-one will be harmed while we guard the fort." Soren said with a straight face. After all, everything he said was true.

"Thank you for taking this job. You can get paid any amount once the sub-humans are driven from the town." The man sighed wearily. "You may go."

.

"That went well." Ike said, mainly to himself.

"Rolf!" Soren called him over. "I need you to tell Skrimir or Ranulf that no beorc is to be injured during the invasion, and that there should be no resistance whatsoever. We got lucky."

Rolf nodded once and ran from the town stealthily.

"For a war, the battles have been fairly easy." Ike tried to open conversation with his friend.

"You had to say it, didn't you?" Soren accused him. Ike rolled his eyes at the superstition. "I'm only telling you this because you're my friend, but something bad will happen. I don't know when, or where, but this is far too much like three years ago. And Sasuke..."

Ike looked down, remembering when he met his brother...

(FLASHBACK)

Ike ran up the last bit of the mountain, seeing the shack covered in blood.

Fearing the worst, he barged the door open, only to see a man with a black robe unlike any he'd ever seen before. There were patterns on it, but it was difficult to make out under the coat of blood covering the man.

Ike stopped, staring at his red eyes. Ike knew it, his sister was dead.

He felt tears trickle down his face, and the man took a step backward, showing both Mist and Rolf bound, gagged, and completely unharmed.

Ike ran forward and embraced his sister, glad she was safe. Only to remember he'd forgotten to untie them...

(END FLASHBACK)

Ike scratched his head, remembering the bump he had there after Mist broke the power stone in Rhys' staff, using his head as the harder material because of that incident.

He sighed, and realised Soren had disappeared. Not much he could do at the moment.

.

"That _is_ good news." Ranulf sounded pleased. "It would probably be better if no-one shifts tonight..."

Rolf decided to return to the mercenaries, in case anyone got suspicious.

.

Night-time came quickly, and the mercenaries slowly pulled the gate up, doing all they could to muffle the noise.

The laguz had their orders. Find a weapon, and put it on the cart outside the city. After that's finished, simply sit and wait until the town wakes up, and realises that they're completely defenceless.

The plan was conducted silently and flawlessly.

The town began to awaken as the sun hit the horizon, and everyone gathered inside the circle of laguz.

Ranulf took this time to capitalize on their other plan. "You see Skrimir, we just won another battle, and not so much as a single casualty."

"There was no battle, Ranulf. Battle includes blood, fangs and steel." Skrimir shook his head.

Ranulf sighed.

"You! You said you would keep them out! But you were with them all along!" The commander of the militia yelled at Soren.

"No, I merely said no-one will be harmed, and I kept my promise. Oh, and by the way, don't pursue us. It would be difficult to fight, when you just paid us all your weapons." Soren began walking off.

"We owe you nothing, traitor!" He yelled back.

"Quote: 'You can get paid any amount once the sub-humans are driven from the town.' The laguz are leaving, so we get paid, as per our agreement.

The commander continued to yell and scream at them as they left, but he could do nothing. An unarmed mob against a battalion of laguz? Massacre.

The laguz forces make their way towards the heart of Begnion...


	62. Storm clouds

**Storm clouds**

Ike and Boyd pulled the cart with the pilfered weapons behind the laguz force.

They were chosen because they had the necessary strength to pull it. Well, Titania did too, but when the topic came up she had a peculiar stony glare, one that Ike had a feeling he didn't want to understand.

Soren waited for them, apparently needing to talk to Ike.

"Soren? What's the news?" Ike asked. Soren disliked idle chatter, so whatever he was about to say was important.

"I've been forced to pre-prepare my I.O.U's." Soren told him.

_No...please Ashera, NO!_ Ike mentally screamed. This was worse than Skrimir yelling in a tactics meeting. Way worse.

.

"Oscar...?" Ilyana found her meal ticket.

"Hmm?" Oscar turned around. "Ilyana? What are you doing here? If Ike finds out, he's going to get very paranoid."

"Ike?" Ilyana searched her memory for the name. A few tidbits, nothing concrete. "Who's Ike?" Her stomach growled.

_I forgot where her brain was located..._ Oscar sighed. "The leader of my group." Ilyana struggled to retain the information. "Never mind, I'll just cook you something..."

Ilyana blinked, then a smile formed on her face. Contrary to what most people thought, she actually did care about the taste of food, and Oscar's was _very_ tasty. However, if it was edible, and placed in front of her, you shouldn't expect it back.

.

Shinon ran. This was one of the few things he agreed with Ike on. That monstrosity shouldn't exist.

He had to warn Ike to take his sweet time, and pray before he passed from the sane world. Ike didn't have much time left here, Shinon thought to himself. If only he knew how true that thought was, and how Shinon himself would be joining Ike, along with several others.

He shook his head.

.

"Well, Ike should be here soon. I'm sure he'll be glad someone else can transport the large store of weapons." Ranulf gazed back along the path.

Aimee grinned. Psychotically.

.

.

The added comment to Shinon's part is a reference to the Tower of Guidance. I've decided that Shinon _will_ go, and I have a plan for who else I intend to drag in there as well. I might be tempted to change that...if enough people want someone in the tower. As for whom I've decided I want in there, that's a secret for now.


	63. Reinforcements

**Reinforcements**

Ike snuck around the camp. If he knew where Aimee was, then he would stand a chance of avoiding her. For 2 days, at least.

Unfortunately for Ike, Aimee was a master stalker, and she noticed a particularly novice practitioner of her arts. She decided to teach this man a lesson.

Then she discovered the man's identity.

"Ike? It is you! Wow, look at you now! My hero!" Aimee's voice was strangely creepy.

"Uhhh, h-hello, Aimee." Ike was slowly backing away, shocked at the fact she had found him.

"Say, you were hauling a cart of supplies, weren't you? Well, how about you come with me so I can make an inventory of all the weapons?" Aimee smiled. A smile that _didn't_ inspire confidence.

Ike racked his brain for _anything_ he could use to get out of this. "Uh, actually, I have to see..." Ike trailed off.

Soren calmly walked into view. "Ike. I've been looking for you. Gatrie's gone and done something stupid, and I need you there."

"But what about the weapons?" Aimee tried to keep Ike with her.

Soren sighed, but it was just a convincing act. "I'll do it, Aimee. Anyone can categorize weapons."

Soren slipped Ike a note, and walked off with Aimee. Ike glanced at the contents of the paper.

'You owe me for this' and in finer print, 'Copy 11'.

_11? That was fast..._ Ike thought. Aimee hadn't been with the laguz for more than an hour, surely. _I wonder what the favour will be?_

.

Ike found Gatrie tied to a tree about 2 feet in the air, gagged, and slightly bruised. Shinon was unconscious at the base of said tree, in much worse shape.

Ike untied Gatrie carefully, asking him to say what happened.

"It's all Shinon's fault!" Gatrie scowled.

_Ok, this ought to be good._ Ike let a thin smile creep to his lips. Gatrie never blamed Shinon for anything.

(FLASHBACK)

Ino saw Sasuke disappear around the corner, and she chased after him.

Gatrie saw Ino running towards him, and acted like he would to any woman. "What a beautiful flower, freshly bloomed. May I ask your name?" Gatrie skilfully placed himself just to the side of her path. He did not wish to seem imposing.

"Uhh, Ino?" she raised her eyebrows as if it was a question, slowing down in front of him.

"What a sweet name. I, Gatrie of the Greil Mercenaries, am honoured to make your acquaintance." Gatrie bowed.

Shinon decided to ruin the moment for them. "Chasing pretty boy over there?" Shinon pointed in the direction Sasuke had vanished.

"Are you insulting him? ! ?" Ino fixed him with an icy gaze.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Gatrie tried to diffuse the situation. It backfired.

"Are you on his side?" Ino stared at him as well.

Gatrie shook his head, eyes wide.

"And now you sell out your comrade? ! ?" Ino began tying him to the tree.

Shinon couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Women and violent mood swings..." He shook his head sadly.

(END FLASHBACK)

"Ah, that's why you're still conscious." Ike realised Shinon had become the main target, and her wrath had expended itself on him. "Oh well. Maybe he'll learn not to piss women off."

...Not likely.

.

Shikamaru found a nice spot to gaze at the clouds. If an enormous black lizard thought it was a cozy spot, he would try it.

There were a few clouds drifting across the sky, changing shape freely. The man leaning against the wyvern cracked an eye open.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were asleep."

"I was." Haar yawned. "And now I'm not."

Shikamaru laid down on the grass next to them, and watched the clouds. "Nice and warm."

"Yeah." Haar blinked.

Haar and his wyvern drifted back to sleep, and Shikamaru just watched the clouds roll by.


	64. Stampede

**Stampede**

Ranulf and Shikamaru stood inside the tent.

"Ok, what are we up against?" Ike began the meeting, as Soren and Titania followed him in.

"We have two separate forces that have banded together with the intent to stop our advance." Ranulf supplied. "They are under two different leaders, both aiming to please the senate."

"We should be able to use that to our advantage." Soren opened his eyes.

"Wait until you've heard our plan." Shikamaru advised them.

Ranulf began to run through their strategy. "We have 'leaked' different info to both forces, one that I'm the leader, and another that Skrimir is. Myself, Lyre and Kysha will join you and engage those who think Skrimir is the leader, and the main laguz force will engage those that think I am. This will cause the enemy to try to be in the other fight, not concentrating on their own."

"...Not bad." Soren flicked through the pros and cons of the plan. "But to maintain it, you won't be able to transform. You can't control yourself too well, can you?"

"I'm far better than most laguz, however I won't be able to control myself should the battle drag on." Ranulf said.

"Best to be safe." Titania pitched in.

Ike nodded. "Just make sure Skrimir only knows about the enemy that thinks you're the commander, Ranulf. We really don't need him messing this up."

.

"Ike!" He recognised the slightly demonic voice.

"Aimee, not now." Ike replied.

"But I might never see you again!" Aimee whined.

Ike sighed. He really didn't need this right now. "What do you want?

"Just a kiss, from _my_ hero." Aimee stated.

Ike was sceptical, but decided that it was worth shutting her up.

"Ike, don't." Soren advised.

"It's just a kiss." Ike rolled his eyes.

"This is Aimee. Nothing is 'just' anything. If you kiss her, word will spread through the camp in days, and she'll never give you a moment's peace." Soren elaborated.

"Surely you're exaggerating..." Ike was silently panicking.

"Actually, he didn't go far enough." Aimee, strangely, supported Soren. "With my spy network, I could spread the news I was engaged to the four corners of Tellius within 3 months. And from there, everyone would try to get us together, to stop me from hitting on people." Aimee had a decidedly evil glint to her eye.

"Wow, you go straight for the neck." Ike rethought how close he was to the crazy woman, and took a few steps back.

"Actually, I prefer the lips..." Aimee leered at him.

Ike just blinked at the shorter woman. "Uh, Ranulf, why is she here again?"

"I...don't know. You should ask her yourself." Ranulf was rather confused as to what exactly was happening. Beorc could get rather strange...

Ike looked at Aimee's pleading face. "...No." Ike began to walk towards the battlefield.

"Ike..." Soren said calmly. "Run."

.

Skrimir glanced towards where the beorc were supposed to be. There was a massive dust cloud, seemingly moving towards him.

_Did the enemy launch a pre-emptive strike?_ He wondered, until he noticed Ranulf making a bee-line for him. "What's going on?"

"Commander, if you see a beorc woman chasing everyone else, tell her Ike went that way." Ranulf pointed to a particularly dense patch of forest.

"Why?" Skrimir asked, but Ranulf had already vanished.

The dust cloud came over Skrimir, and he could see the Greil Mercenaries, as well as several laguz warriors, in the stampede. Then he saw the woman.

Skrimir placed himself in her path, and fixed her with an arrogant stare.

"WHAT! ? !" Aimee shrieked at him. He was letting Ike get away!

Skrimir couldn't help but be cowed by this woman. Her battle aura was insane! "Uh, Ike went that way..." Skrimir pointed in the direction Ranulf had.

Her battle aura vanished. "Oh. Thank you." Aimee curtsied briefly before dashing into the forest.

Skrimir just stood there, stunned. "...What just happened?" He asked himself.


	65. Slaughter

**Slaughter**

Ike stood in the battlefield with Ranulf.

"The plan you came up with is working better than I thought." Ike whistled.

"There _is_ a reason I'm second in command." Ranulf reminded him. While Ranulf didn't have the mind of Soren or Shikamaru, he was a _laguz_ with a brain, which was sadly quite rare.

"Splitting our forces up would normally be a bad idea, but this..." Ike chuckled.

The Begnion forces weren't even paying attention to the fight. Their thoughts were purely on the rewards the other army was going to get.

Shinon marched forwards, shooting arrows with precision. Oscar covered him if any foes were getting too close. Titania did the same with Rolf. Haar and Heather came along the flank, mainly because Heather was the only one that could keep up with the dracoknight. Ike admired his forces progress. Mia and Boyd were taking the enemy out in the forest, and Ilyana and his sister were...nowhere to be seen.

Ike panicked. Ranulf yelled in pain.

"Ilyana! That's not food!" Mist yelled, trying to pry Ilyana's mouth off Ranulf's tail.

_...Found them..._ Ike blinked.

Soren walked up to his commander. "The enemy force is almost annihilated."

"Hey, Soren. Uh, Where's Gatrie?" Ike asked.

"Back at camp. Turns out his shoulders were dislocated." Soren replied. Ino was also back at camp, trying to fix that problem.

"Ouch." Ike whispered in sympathy. "And Sasuke?"

Soren merely pointed to the southern edge of the battlefield, where most of the enemy reinforcements _should_ have been coming from, however was actually eerily silent.

Ike nodded to himself. "I see..."

Haar dropped into the middle of the enemy commander's guard, and killed them off, one by one. The commander threw his axe at Haar, who caught it and threw it back, taking off the man's left arm. He toppled from the saddle, and fell right into Titania, who swung her axe at him in surprise.

The enemy commander was now a head shorter.

Skrimir walked up to Ike. "Another easy victory. When will Begnion give us a decent battle?"

"Careful what you wish for." Soren closed his eyes, waiting for fate to play its hand.

The ground rumbled rhythmically.

"What is that?" Skrimir asked conversationally.

Haar flew in. "Bad news. The Begnion Central Army is here."

Ike closed his eyes. "Damn. What happened to Tibarn?" Ike shook his head, and opened his eyes. "All units, retreat!"

"A worthy opponent finally shows up, and you expect me to run? ! ?" Skrimir asked, horrified.

"Skrimir, just shut up and listen to him." Ranulf hissed at his commander.

"Ranulf? Don't presume to order me around..." Skrimir began dangerously. Ranulf responded by shifting. He had built up chaos energy from the entire battle. Skrimir shifted as well, and roared at his subordinate, hoping to cow him with a display of power. Ranulf lashed out at him, causing some deep scratches along his back. Skrimir bashed his face with his left paw, sending him sprawling across the ground, however, he stood up again, much to Skrimir's surprise. Ranulf leaped at him again, however he was pinned under Skrimir's powerful leg. Ranulf resisted until he was forced to revert.

"I won't let our brothers die in vain, commander." Ranulf gasped.

Skrimir looked at him, then gave his command. "All forces, pull back!"

"Skrimir?" Ike looked at him oddly.

"Damn it, Ranulf...You were stronger than I thought. I can't fight them unless I'm at full strength." Skrimir growled.

Ranulf stumbled alongside them back to base.


	66. Arrival

**Arrival**

Tibarn landed roughly on the ground, obviously exhausted.

"Tibarn! What happened?" Ike asked, genuinely curious.

Tibarn waved him off. "Later. Right now, I need sleep."

Reyson alighted on the ground, far more gracefully than his companion. "Naesala betrayed us again."

"Again? ! ?" Ike growled furiously.

"Naesala?" Sasuke frowned. _Naesala attacked __**me**__ for being unpredictable, so why would he...?_

"King of the raven tribe." Ike filled in for Sasuke, assuming that was what he was asking.

"No, I came from Kilvas in the first place. What I meant was, Naesala tried to kill me because I was a 'threat' somehow, because I was unpredictable, and wouldn't listen when the time came. Naesala wouldn't make powerful enemies without good reason, Ike, he's smarter than that." Sasuke looked away.

"In a way, it sort of makes sense that you landed in a traitor's land." Tsunade made her appearance.

"Tsunade." Sasuke merely acknowledged her presence.

"So, what made you fight for Ike?" Tsunade asked, genuinely interested.

"Ike showed me another path to power, and knows another side to my brother." Sasuke explained.

Tsunade blinked.

"Ike, we need-Lord Hokage...?" Shikamaru was momentarily speechless. "So, you are here as well?"

"Yes, it seems so." Tsunade observed the camp briefly. "Are all of you here?"

"All of us?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"The rookie nine." Tsunade explained.

Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly. "No, I haven't heard of Choji, Naruto, Kiba or Hinata. Sasuke told me about Sakura, and Ino and Shino are here with us."

Ranulf chose this moment to appear. "Choji? He's in Gallia, close acquaintance of the king. Haven't heard of the others, though." Ranulf looked around. "...Damn it, Lyre..." Ranulf ran off, searching for his subordinate.

Sasuke blinked. Lyre was having an argument with her sister near the commander's tent, but Sasuke didn't have the chance to tell him that.

"Um, I think I'll give you guys some space." Ike didn't want to intrude on the reunion. He left to help Ranulf.

"You have a lot to answer for, Sasuke." Tsunade began.

"There are some things that I regret, however I must go on." Sasuke replied. "I doubt you'd understand, chained to the past like you are."

"Damn right I don't..." Shikamaru muttered under his breath.

"And you're _not_ chained to the past?" Tsunade accused. "Always chasing after your brother?"

"His death is...no longer my first priority. If I come across him, then perhaps I will kill him, however I'm starting to look ahead." Sasuke turned around. "If that's all?"

Tsunade just stood in mute shock. Was this even Sasuke she was talking to?

"Sasuke has been genuinely helpful since he joined, Lord Hokage." Shikamaru added, as he watched him walk away. "I might not understand him, but we need all the help we can get right now."

"...I need booze." Tsunade scowled.

.

.

This chapter wasn't feeling right, so I didn't post it. It feels better now though.

On a completely unrelated note, tomorrow is my birthday!...I have no idea why I put that here...


	67. Military

**Military**

Zelgius walked into the Begnion camp, where he was greeted by the current head of military, Levail.

"Commander Zelgius! I'm so glad you're here! Maybe the senators will listen to you, Ashera knows they won't listen to a mere soldier like me..." Levail looked down, clearly angry.

"Status, soldier." Zelgius ordered.

"The senators are more focused on rewards for killing the laguz, than actually stopping the invasion. There are reports of beorc supporting the laguz, however none have been confirmed."

Zelgius closed his eyes...

(FLASHBACK)

Tsunade dropped out of the sky and threw a punch at Zelgius. Zelgius attempted to block with his left hand, but his arm caved under her immense strength. Stumbling back, Zelgius saw Tsunade rushing in for a second attempt, however this time he only tried to redirect it. He gripped her wrist, however even this threw him of balance, and worse still, made him turn his back to her. Tsunade launched yet another punch at him, and Zelgius leaned backwards to evade, stabbing his sword into the ground for support. In the brief instant she was overbalanced, Zelgius threw all his weight into a shoulder barge, which caught Tsunade in the neck, lifting her slightly and throwing her off balance again, which Zelgius exploited by punching her in the face with his right hand. A shadow flicked across his vision, and he yanked his sword out of the ground with his left hand, just as Tibarn swooped at him. He braced his blade with his right hand just as Tibarn collided with it, causing momentary wonder on both sides of the battle.

(FLASHBACK END)

"Report confirmed, soldier." Zelgius replied. _Who __**was**__ that woman? Her strength was unreal...Branded? No, laguz wouldn't ally themselves with such people. Then again, they're desperate __**and**__ angry..._ "Continue."

"The laguz have deviated from standard tactics, they fight battles they can easily win, and have even used counter-espionage to fool the senators. This enemy is a real threat, however I can do nothing about it, commander." Levail finished.

"I will see what I can do, soldier. Good work on keeping the army together under such conditions." Zelgius complimented him.

Levail was very proud of himself in that instant. He had done well, after all, he had done everything he could.

Zelgius went to confront the senators on the war's lack of progress.


	68. Meeting

**Meeting**

Unfortunately for Tsunade there was no booze. Laguz don't exactly think about the future much, so the alcohol didn't last long into the campaign. Especially with Skrimir's excessive celebrations of victory.

And so, a surprisingly sober Tsunade walked into the tent, with a hell of a temper. "All right. Let's get this over with."

Shikamaru recognised that expression. She had a headache.

Skrimir leaned over to Tibarn slightly, being subtle for the first time in his life. "Are all beorc like this?"

"I dunno. All the ones I've seen are." Tibarn whispered back.

Unfortunately for them, everyone heard their little conversation.

"Not all of us are like this." Shikamaru shrugged. "We're all rather close to famous people, and that does weird things to your mind." Shikamaru couldn't resist the final jibe. "Doesn't it, Sasuke?"

Sasuke didn't budge an inch, but you could feel the anger radiating off of him.

Soren sighed. "We have Begnion's army across the river, and you are sharing jokes." Shikamaru and Ike could tell Soren was angry. "Their army is being led by their most able commander, Zelgius. He actually _has_ combat experience, and is the reason their army is so feared." Soren thought he finally had control over the meeting.

"Finally! A worthy opponent!" Skrimir grinned.

Soren crushed his hoped quickly. "No, you will be leading the main force, the one that will have to cross the river. The person who will be distracting Zelgius, will be Ranulf."

"Heh, I'm flattered you think so highly of me, Soren, however I'm no match for him. Not, even, close." Ranulf emphasised the last words.

"I said distract, not eliminate." Soren said shortly. "And, that is not our only strategy. We will also fly the Greil Mercenaries into the senators camp. Zelgius is a soldier, and won't disobey an order from his superiors, even if _they_ are stupid."

"So I'm just gonna be there to stop him focussing on the battle, huh? I can do that." Ranulf seemed much happier all of a sudden.

"And lastly, you, Skrimir, also have a job in this battle. With their commander drawn out, all the soldiers will do, is try to hold the line. If you use standard laguz tactics, this will actually work. No, you will make your army form a wedge, and hit only their centre. The other soldiers won't move without an order, because they think they already know what's coming." Soren concluded.

Tsunade stared at him in surprise. "Ok, I'm impressed."

Shikamaru was feeling a little left out. Soren _was_ smarter than him, even if only a little.

"Fog..." Sasuke looked out of the tent. It was time.

.

.

The board is set, the pieces in place, and the pace is about to pick up. The Laguz Alliance's first major battle is about to start...


	69. Clash

**Clash**

Zelgius looked at the growing fog bank. He had a really bad feeling about this.

"At least the enemy won't be able to move until this clears." Levail was trying to calm his own nerves.

_This enemy seems to specialize in unusual tactics. Where are we weak...The Senators' camp? I wouldn't put it past them...and our siege engines won't work...This fog is actually our worst nightmare against the laguz._ Zelgius decided on a course of action. "Set sentries above the fog! Abandon the siege engines, they're useless now! Levail, reinforce the senators' position. Take an elite unit."

_Attacking the senators? That would be...rather effective actually._ "Understood, commander." Levail bowed quickly, and ran off.

Zelgius stared through the mist...

.

"The vanguard's halfway across already. Don't you intend to join them?" Ranulf questioned. Skrimir wasn't acting like himself.

"...Ranulf, I...want you to have this." Skrimir handed over a blue stone.

"Your laguz gem? But-" Ranulf was shocked.

"You're about to fight someone Ike fears. You need it more than I do right now." Skrimir told him. "But I _do_ want it back. This is also your promise to live." Skrimir said in all seriousness.

Ranulf blinked until he found his voice. "Understood, commander. I won't let you down."

Skrimir looked over his shoulder. "It begins..."

.

"Tibarn." Ulki said simply.

"Ah, finally." Tibarn stretched as he stood. "Let's go." He jumped off the cliff and shifted, like the rest of the hawk tribe. A few broke off to give Ranulf and his group a ride, and others broke off to move the augmented Greil Mercenaries. Tibarn led the rest straight for the fray.

.

Tsunade waded through the river, leading the ground assault. The only thing preventing the already battle crazed laguz from attacking her was their fear of her already well known strength. She saw a torch, and rushed forward with a battle cry, turning the soldier into a human missile with a powerful punch. The beast tribe rushed forward, and the battle was joined.

.

Zelgius saw the laguz attack, and waited for the abnormality. It took him awhile, but he realised it was a spearhead attack, not a blanket assault. "Get the soldiers from the flanks and focus them on the centre!" Zelgius took a swing at a charging tiger laguz, slicing his face in two. However, because of this, he noticed some hawks dropping laguz behind the battlefield, another unique tactic. "...I'm needed elsewhere. Keep them engaged until I return." Zelgius decided to confront the extra troops himself.

.

(FLASHBACK)

Ranulf stood as his two subordinates walked in.

"You asked us to come, sir?" Kysha asked politely as he lifted the tent flap for Lyre.

_We wouldn't be here if he didn't._ Lyre thought bitterly.

"Yes, I did. I have special orders for you two that aren't to leave this tent." Ranulf began. "You are each to lead a medium sized squad, each having both tigers and cats. With Skrimir leading the main assault, you are to hit their flanks when they pull in to fight him." He ordered.

Kysha blinked. "We'll be hitting their backs?" He asked incredulously.

"Kysha, there is a time for honour, and a time for ruthlessness. This, is war." Ranulf narrowed his eyes.

Kysha caved. "Understood, sir."

Lyre was much more enthusiastic. "Let's tear those _humans_ apart." She grinned sinisterly.

(FLASHBACK END)

Kysha and Lyre both knew what to do. Lyre attacked from the north and Kysha from the south, both simultaneously crashing into the now weakened Begnion line. And without either Levail or Zelgius to form a cohesive defence...


	70. Ranulf vs Zelgius Part 1

**Ranulf vs Zelgius (Part 1)**

Ranulf dropped from the sky, scanning the ground for his opponent.

He was saved the effort, and that disturbed him.

"Well well, sorry to drop in...unannounced..." Ranulf smirked. "We thought we should hunt the strongest prey first." Ranulf trailed off.

"I see...interesting manoeuvre." Zelgius noticed the hawks flying towards the senators' camp. "The senators are well defended, you know."

Ranulf's grin faltered. "That's not our _only_ plan."

"I know." Zelgius narrowed his eyes at Ranulf. "I trust you know who you face, Zelgius, commander of this army. If you're not worthy of facing me, you are only, wasting my time." Zelgius finished in all seriousness.

Ranulf's grin returned. _Heh, not like that's __**exactly**__ our plan, or anything..._ "Do you know what this is?" Ranulf retrieved the laguz gem, and held it out for inspection. Zelgius frowned at the blue gem, unaware of its capabilities. "This is a special stone, only given to those trusted by King Caineghis himself." Zelgius' eyes widened. He was truly facing a worthy warrior, then. "I'm Ranulf, Second in command of the Laguz Alliance, Gallia's tactician _and_ the right-hand of Gallia's future king." Ranulf activated the gem, and began to shift in a flash of blue. "Will that do?" Ranulf was awed at the power of the stone. Before, he constantly had to fight the battle rage within him to keep his head cool, but this? This was a mere transformation, with absolutely _no_ adverse effects on the mind!

Zelgius drew his blade, and nodded. "...At your ready." He twisted his blade, indicating he was prepared for the duel.

Ranulf's grin broke once more, however this time it was to snarl as he leaped towards Zelgius. Zelgius brought his blade over his head as he aimed for Ranulf's head, but Ranulf was prepared. He batted away the sword with his right paw, and with his left he swung at Zelgius' head. Zelgius saw this, and tried to sidestep, however Ranulf's claw still gave him one clean cut across his left cheek.

Flipping in midair to face his opponent once more, Ranulf glared at Zelgius, who touched his cheek to search for blood. His _blood_ red armour really didn't help this endeavour, however there certainly was some drawn. Zelgius reassumed his stance, far more wary of his foe than before. There were no more words to be exchanged.

Ranulf charged towards Zelgius once more...


	71. Senators' Camp

**Senators' Camp**

Levail arrived at the camp with 25 of the army's best troops, and prepared for battle. The laguz had been known to strike without _any_ warning whatsoever, and Levail swore he would not be caught off guard.

He gazed out toward the fog bank, trying to get at least an idea as to how the battle was faring. The only thing he did see, however, was a small squad of hawks flying close to the ground, straight for his position.

_Commander Zelgius...you were right..._ Levail shook his head. "Everyone, protect the senators!" Levail shouted as the hawks dropped the Greil Mercenaries off.

.

Ike landed heavily, and took a deep breath before giving his order. "Burn the supplies. This will deal damage as well as causing them to retreat." Ike said calmly.

"But don't kill the senators. As much as they deserve it, it won't help should a chance for a peace talk arise." Soren glanced around quickly, before shaking his head. "Whoever designed this place deserves to be shot..." The place was designed for easy movement, great for moving supplies, but nearly impossible to defend.

"Agreed." Ike narrowed his eyes as he walked forward, only to find a squad fully prepared to deal with them, featuring several fire and wind magi.

"Beorc?" Levail sounded shocked. "It's Ike! Ike's with the Laguz Alliance!" Levail was fearful. A living legend had just attacked his position._ But I can't let the commander down!_ Levail charged forward with the rest of his troops, realising that fighting in the camp would not benefit him.

Mia charged forward, determined to end this as quickly as possible. She cut down a swordsman, and attacked Levail. Levail swung his lance, which Mia ducked under and slashed at him, however Levail diverted it to his right side using his shield. Levail continued the spin, and brought his spear round as well, slamming the blunt side into the back of her head, making her collapse in a heap.

Ike blinked. _That guy's faster than __**Mia**__! And he uses a spear!_ "Leave their commander alone!" Ike yelled, realising he was in a whole different league.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. _A worthy opponent._


	72. Sasuke vs Levail

**Sasuke vs Levail**

Sasuke rushed forward, throwing a kunai into one of the wind magi, before homing in on Levail.

Levail saw his attacker, and settled into a stance which had his shield blocking most of his body, and yet allowed his lance mobility.

Sasuke threw a punch at Levail's face, which was avoided with ease. Levail retaliated with a horizontal swing from his lance, which Sasuke back flipped over.

The two stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Sasuke cracked first and dashed forward. Levail repeated his last attack, which Sasuke ducked under this time and tried a sweeping kick. Levail jumped it and went to stab forward with his spear, however Sasuke had kept spinning after his kick, throwing a left backhand, which Levail deflected up with his shield. Levail then stepped forward, slamming his shield into Sasuke, which knocked him to the ground, and went to impale him, but Sasuke kicked the lance away as he rolled to his feet. Levail anticipated another attack, and so he jumped back slightly, however none came.

Sasuke thought he tasted something, and wiped his mouth. A tiny bit of blood. First blood was drawn, and he didn't do it. Sasuke transformed, and renewed his assault.

Sasuke thrust his right fist forwards, however Levail planted his shield in the ground in front of him, and removed his arm from it. As Sasuke punched the shield, it flew from the ground and over Levail, who used his now much faster left hand to punch at his gut. Unfortunately, it hit his ribcage instead, and Sasuke was launched backwards into a tree. Levail saw his chance, and rushed forward. He started swinging the lance horizontally, but as he saw Sasuke jump up into the branches, he slammed the head of his spear into the ground, and used it like a pole vault, flipping as he did so.

He guessed where Sasuke would be, and brought his heel in a massive arc, ending in Sasuke's shocked face. Sasuke fell through the branches, and the back of his head hit the ground first, knocking him out. Levail also fell from the branches, but he was ready to press his attack, throwing his fist towards Sasuke's prone form. He stopped when he saw Sasuke reverting, and unconscious. Proceeding to tie him up, Levail quickly retrieved his spear, and went to search for his wayward shield.

.

.

A shorter chapter, granted, but Levail's onslaught doesn't end here. And yes, for those of you who haven't realised, this is Endgame Levail.


	73. Defeat?

**Defeat...?**

Ike was surprised by the skill his opponents wielded.

He was having trouble with a horseman, until a red blur crashed into him, sending the man onto the palisade, where he was impaled.

Ike looked at the blur as it hit the ground, recognizing it as Levail's shield. Ike looked where it came from, and saw a transformed Sasuke get his ass kicked. _Wait...that was his face..._ Ike corrected. Understandable mistake.

Ike picked up the shield, surprised by how light it was, and attacked Levail. Levail saw his shield, and then who was using it. Levail was instantly on guard, Ike's reputation of defeating the Black Knight looming foremost in his mind.

Ike was even more cautious. This opponent was inhumanly fast, and creative as well. In Ike's mind, that equalled deadly. Ike edged closer, holding Levail's shield to the side.

Levail suddenly lashed out, attempting to impale him. Ike brought the shield in to his left side, causing the spear to glance off and continue in that direction. Levail capitalized on the situation, and spun until he was facing away from Ike, then slammed his left elbow into his gut. Ike was winded by the blow, and his sword was brought down by instinct. Levail sidestepped closer to his shield, dropped his spear, and punched Ike in the face. As Ike recoiled, Levail grabbed his shield and went to yank it from Ike's arm.

Unfortunately Ike was merely holding it, not strapped in, and when Levail pulled, there was no resistance. Consequently, Levail fell flat on his ass, giving Ike the time he needed to recover, and bar Levail's access to his weapon.

Levail rushed forwards, and just as Ike began to swing at him, Levail planted his shield in the ground, and vaulted over it, and Ike. Ike kept spinning, aiming for Levail, however Levail ducked under the sword, picked up his lance while still facing away from Ike, and swung in with a massive overhead strike, turning around as he did so. Ike was slightly dizzy from the spin, and took the heavy blow to the crown of his head. Ike stepped back to avoid any follow up, however he bumped into the shield and fell on top of it. Levail then dashed forward, knocked Ike's sword from his grasp, and levelled the spear at his throat.

"Y-you're good..." Ike coughed. "Really good."

"Coming from you, that praise means a lot to me." Levail smiled nervously.

"W-who are you?" Ike asked, getting his breath back.

"I am Levail, Second in command of the Begnion Central Army, and Zelgius' apprentice." Levail replied proudly.

Ike took the time to observe the battle around him. He saw Mist whack a swordsman over the head with a basic healing staff, and shattered the stone on the top. Oscar rushed behind the dazed man and hit him with the pole of his spear, knocking him face first into the sharp shards. Mist looked around, and threw the broken staff at an axeman sneaking up on Shinon, which somehow knocked him out, as Shinon fired another arrow towards the last mage, killing him as well.

Gatrie stood back to back with Boyd, and blocked another axeman, disarming him and passing the axe to Boyd as he threw his current one at an archer, killing him as well. Gatrie killed the axeman with a well placed thrust.

Rolf was sitting on the back of Titania's horse, firing away to distract foes rather than kill them, while Titania hunted them down.

_Are we really winning this? _Ike wondered. _Levail's far too good for anyone here...if only Haar was here... _Ike frowned. Haar had said something about catching up on his sleep, because he hadn't had much with all this fighting. "I concede." Ike threw his hands up as Soren walked beside him.

Soren simply nodded to Levail. "Everyone withdraw." Soren's voice somehow carried through the battlefield, causing a ceasefire.

Levail removed the spear from Ike's throat. "Thank you for the duel, Sir Ike." Levail bowed.

Ike chuckled. "You wiped the floor with me...that was hardly a match."

"I'll untie Sasuke." Soren walked off.

Levail extended a hand towards Ike, who took it, surprised by the strength in his grip.

"Farewell, Levail." Ike walked away, with Mia over his shoulder, and Sasuke over Boyd's.

.

.

Sorry about the whole Sasuke butt/face joke, but it was just..._there_. I couldn't resist.


	74. Ranulf vs Zelgius Part 2

**Ranulf vs Zelgius (Part 2)**

Ranulf charged at Zelgius, and once again, leaped for his head. Zelgius saw this coming, and ducked, swinging his sword up behind him. Ranulf tried to bat the blade away, but still got a light cut on his ribs for the trouble. Ranulf righted himself in midair, and charged again, hoping to catch Zelgius off guard. Zelgius blocked with the flat of his blade, and once Ranulf collided with it, put all his strength into a swing, sending him flying back.

Ranulf landed lightly, but watched in horror as Zelgius was actually _running_ towards him. Ranulf prepared to dodge, and leaped to the side. Zelgius was waiting for this, and swung while Ranulf was evading, scoring a light cut on his leg. Ranulf recovered quickly, and barged into Zelgius, intending to knock him off balance, however it was like trying to knock a tree over. No noticeable effect. Ranulf was too close for Zelgius to use his sword, and so instead he picked the cat up and threw him towards the cliff face.

Ranulf grasped some rocks desperately, and climbed back up quickly, realising Zelgius was trying to herd him off the edge. Ranulf circled around Zelgius, moving away from the cliff, and trying to drag the battle out. He rushed forwards again, aiming for the weapon rather than the person. Zelgius swung once more, however Ranulf was prepared, and used it as a ramp, and bit down on Zelgius' head. Zelgius grasped the cat's tail, and threw him towards the cliff once more.

Ranulf skidded, however he remained on the higher ground, and dashed towards his foe again. Zelgius changed tactics, and threw a punch which landed heavily in Ranulf's face, and while sluggish, Zelgius swung his blade. Ranulf jumped backwards awkwardly, but still took the hit across his chest, barely avoiding a vital blow. Ranulf landed badly, and fell on his side. Zelgius ran forwards, and swung at the fallen laguz, which Ranulf scrambled away from desperately, his leg taking another nasty blow.

Ranulf was fading fast, and he reverted, unable to hold the transformation even with the gem's assistance. "...Damn it...Skrimir..." Ranulf gasped, clinging to consciousness tenaciously. He dropped to one knee, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

"You fought well, Ranulf, however this is the end for you. Make you peace with the goddess." Zelgius prepared his blade.

"...Zelgius...Can you...give this to the commander?" Ranulf dropped the gem, trying to roll it. "He...let me borrow it." Ranulf dropped his eyes.

"...Of course. You were a worthy opponent, Ranulf." Zelgius raised his sword, however he stopped when he heard an ear piercing cry.

Zelgius turned around, and saw the green hawk king diving towards him. Zelgius raised his blade in a defensive gesture, keeping the sharp edge towards his new opponent to discourage anything crafty. Tibarn's talons collided with the blade, the strength of both combatants obvious in their struggle.

Abruptly, Tibarn broke off from Zelgius, landed his talons on the ground, and reverted to human form.

"Why have you reverted, Hawk King? Do you not wish to fight me?" Zelgius asked, confused.

"I do, more than you know. However, don't you think you should pull your forces back? They're getting slaughtered." Tibarn _didn't_ have his near constant smirk plastered to his face.

Zelgius looked at his forces, completely boxed in. "What?"

"After you pulled your sides in, we sent two squads to hit your retreating forces. Once the hawks carrying our forces had dropped their loads, they hit you from behind. And Ranulf here was just to keep _you _occupied, stopping you from organising a proper defence." Tibarn elaborated. "You should go, Zelgius. Next time we meet, keep your sword drawn." He looked to Ranulf. "Can you stand?"

"...No." Ranulf almost collapsed forwards, however he would remain conscious, at least until he started flying. He'd prefer to be passed out for that...


	75. Recovery

**Recovery**

Tibarn dropped Ranulf into the bed as best as he could while shifted. Skrimir was there almost instantly.

"What happened to him...?" Even Skrimir was horrified by the wounds.

"Zelgius happened to him. Damn, he's good..." Tibarn was referring to Ranulf. Zelgius could stand his ground against a laguz _royal_, so for Ranulf to duel him for the entire duration of the battle and _survive_...

"...I'm going to kill him." Skrimir would avenge his second in command.

"Skrimir, I'm not even sure _I_ could do that. _You_, however, would end up just as badly as him." Tibarn tried to talk sense into him.

Ike walked in at that moment, saw Ranulf, and turned away.

"Ike. How did your battle go?" Skrimir asked.

"We got tossed around like playthings. By Zelgius apprentice." Ike was feeling strangely emotionless about the whole incident.

Tibarn whistled. "Damn..."

"Me, Mia, and Sasuke, all without so much as a scratch. We never stood a chance." Ike relayed facts, acting somewhat like Soren.

Said person also walked into the tent, having heard half the conversation from outside. "This is the enemy we're up against. We need to go around them, not through."

Tibarn raised an eyebrow. "What crazy plan do you have now?"

"Peace talk." Soren deadpanned. The laguz were stunned, and Ike wasn't that much better.

"Soren, we can't have a peace talk now. We massacred their army, they want us annihilated, and our troops aren't much better." Tibarn frowned.

"You can't expect me to reason with those...those _humans_!" Skrimir burst out.

"I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with them, Soren, but they're right. The laguz won't stop unless they hit something they can't overcome. Surely there's another way?" Ike asked.

"Commander!" Lethe burst into the tent, ignoring everyone except Skrimir. "The enemy commander has challenged you to single combat, 5 days from now!"

Soren's mouth twitched slightly, the equivalent of a smirk. "Something they can't overcome...heh..." Soren walked out with a rare smile on his face.

.

Zelgius rolled the laguz gem in his hands, curious about the artefact.

Levail knocked on the door, eventually allowing himself in. "Commander? I passed the message on...what is that?" He asked curiously.

"This, is what allowed a cat laguz to fight me on even terms." Zelgius stared at it with fascination. "I'll be giving it back in our duel." Zelgius looked at Levail. "So, how was Ike?"

.

.

Sorry about the late update, but I used up all my internet downloading Path of Radiance. Not sure when the next one will come, though, as the next chapter isn't flowing very well for some reason.


	76. Shadows

**Shadows**

Pelleas walked the halls of Daein Castle, rather tired. Reconstructing a demolished country was hard work.

"King Pelleas, prepare to receive Vice Minister Lekain." A courier in red addressed him.

Pelleas blinked at the rather sudden and rude message. A circle of light appeared in the dimly lit hallway, and the large minister appeared in the middle.

"My apologies for visiting at such a late hour, Your Majesty, however Begnion has need of your aid." Lekain advised, far too confident.

_Don't apologize for something you're not sorry for..._ Pelleas hid his emotion under his stoic mask. "Whatever aid could a recovering nation offer the empire?"

"The _Laguz_ Alliance is knocking on our front door. We require you to assist in their annihilation." Lekain filled.

"Unfortunately, our forces are required within our own borders for now. We are quite vulnerable ourselves." Pelleas barely crushed the smirk forming on his lips.

"I don't think you understand the position you're in. Do you remember this?" Lekain produced the document Pelleas signed on his coronation.

"That's the...! But Izuka...!" Pelleas' mind put the pieces together. "Is one of you." Pelleas' eyes burned with a cold anger. Sothe had always warned him not to trust the man, but Pelleas took no heed. His tongue twisted in familiar patterns, outlining familiar words that could blast Lekain's soul from his body. He refrained from voicing those words with significant effort.

"Ah, you figured it out, I see. Yes, Izuka is one of us, however that is rather unimportant. This wonderful piece of parchment is a Blood Pact, binding the signee to the will of the document's owner, which is Begnion." Lekain smirked.

"The punishment?" Pelleas asked coldly.

"One person dies on the first day, two on the second, three on the third etcetera." Lekain's smirk turned into an evil grin.

"...Daein will support Begnion." Pelleas said coldly.

"Excellent. Oh, and if you tell anyone outside Daein about the pact, it will activate the curse." Lekain added almost as an afterthought. He pulled out his rewarp staff, and vanished into the night.

Pelleas returned to his room, before exploding in anger. He wasn't tired anymore. His thoughts had turned completely to how he had failed Daein.

"I'll find a way out of this leash, Lekain. Daein won't be your _pet_."

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Ugh, I reword it over and over, but it doesn't feel right. If anyone has ideas to improve this, let me know please.

Next chapter focus will be back on Ike.


	77. Down time

**Down time**

Ike woke up, more sore than he was when he went to sleep. It seemed his battle with Levail was worse than he'd originally thought.

"You're finally awake." Soren spoke from across the room.

Ike blinked. "Uh, why are you in here?"

"Who else could keep Aimee away from you?" Soren replied, eyebrow raised.

"Ahh...point taken." Ike winced as he rose to his feet, stretching his sore muscles. "How long have I been-"

"Sleeping?" Soren completed his sentence. "About 16 hours." Soren paused, obvious even though he was sitting down. "You were really banged up."

"How's the rest of the group?" Ike asked him. If anyone knew, it would be Soren or Oscar.

"Boyd took a spear to the leg, but Rhys was able to mostly patch that up. He still needs to stay off it for a week, though. Titania's almost as bashed up as you are, somehow. I need to speak with her about that when she wakes up. Sasuke...I really don't know what happened to him. He was the worst off out of all of us, and yet he seemed physically fine just over 6 hours ago. He's taking getting beaten rather poorly, however." Soren summed up the injuries. "All in all, we actually fought rather well. We were just that badly outclassed. Our desperation didn't hurt our teamwork in the slightest."

"Oh really? Sasuke-" Ike was cut off vehemently.

"Isn't part of the mercenaries. Never has been." Soren sounded normal, however there was just a hint of something much darker in that sentence.

Ike frowned in confusion. "But, when Itachi came..."

"Itachi was different. He was finding himself. His aura was a testament to that. Sasuke however, his aura is similar to Naesala's." Soren looked down slightly, a sign he was desperately trying to keep a straight face.

"I'll see if I can talk to him. Something's telling me I should." Ike noticed something Soren had left out. "What about Mia?"

Soren almost coughed, a hint of a smirk flickering across his mouth. "A simple knockout blow. Well placed. Minor headache when she woke up, but that was all."

Ike sighed with relief. She wasn't even hurt. "Thanks, Soren." Ike winced as he pulled his cloak over his shoulders. He'd be feeling this one all day...

.

Shikamaru lay down next to Haar's wyvern, looking at the clouds. _Not a care in the world...just going where the wind takes them. So free..._ Shikamaru relaxed. The laguz camp had become a hornet's nest after the challenge. People running everywhere, things being moved.

Not to mention Ilyana's midnight raid. Yep, breakfast was real fun with a table full of very hungry laguz. Though, for the life of him, Shikamaru had no idea how she'd managed to eat so much.

Haar's wyvern sniffed the air, before going back to sleep. Lethe walked into view.

"I thought I'd find you here." Lethe commented.

Shikamaru sighed. "What does he want?"

"Who?" Lethe let a smirk come across her lips.

"The person who sent you." Shikamaru replied calmly.

Lethe let out a low chuckle. "No-one did." She sat down next to him. "I just don't have anything to do right now."

"So you spend time with a beorc?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"My sister's looking for me with her 'Look at me' collar on. I'm laying low." Lethe replied.

Shikamaru smiled ruefully. "Ah." His dad did the same thing almost every time his mum went looking for him.

"Found you!" A woman yelled. Lethe jumped, but it wasn't Lyre.

Mia ran out of the trees.

Lethe sighed. "It's getting noisy around here..." She stood up.

"AAARGGGHH!" Someone yelled from the camp, followed by some loud banging of something metallic, and the crash of a tent falling to the ground.

Lethe sat back down. "...I think that was the mess hall."

"You're not going to check it out?" Shikamaru asked.

Lethe shook her head. "This stuff has only happened since you beorc showed up. I couldn't care less."

Mia's reaction was slightly different. "I think that was Ike screaming..."

.

Ike walked into the mess hall, wondering if Oscar had cooked anything. He'd heard about Ilyana's midnight 'snack', and decided he'd try to get dinner early. For some reason, Sasuke was there as well.

"Sasuke, why are you here?" Ike asked plainly.

Sasuke looked up, before looking back down. "It's between meals. No-one's here."

Ike frowned. "I'd heard you were moping. Look, there will always be someone stronger out there. And even if there isn't, sometimes you'll just match up poorly with them. You can't win every fight, especially not alone. I'll admit you're good, but-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off by a new arrival.

"Ike? ! ? You're up!" Mist exclaimed happily, nearly dropping the basket of herbs she had gathered for Oscar.

"Hey Mist." Ike smiled back at his sister, resisting the urge to wince as some of his bruises resisted the motion. "How's Titania?"

"Titania? Actually...now that you mention it...I haven't seen her all day." Mist responded, her happy face changing to one of concern. "Is something wrong?"

"Soren said she was in bad shape after our last battle. I just thought that because you were one of our healers, you'd know better." Ike shrugged.

Oscar walked out of the back section. "Thanks Mist." He turned his head towards Ike. "Commander. How are you feeling?"

Ike decided to answer Oscar honestly. "Like someone put Skrimir on a ballista and shot me with him."

Oscar sighed. When Ike was recovering, he always ate more than normal. It was hard enough to keep up with him as it was... "I'll get a meal ready for you, commander." Oscar walked back to the cooking section just as Aimee walked in.

"My hero!" Aimee squealed with delight upon finding the man, especially without his ever-present tactitian.

The reaction was instant.

"Wha? ! ? Aimee? ! ?"

Ike walked backwards, stumbled over a chair and twisted his ankle. He yelled in pain as he then tried to grab something to support his weight, but grabbed a bunch of knives instead. These were discarded quickly as he tried to find something else to hold onto, however those knives flew straight at Sasuke, who jumped out of the way, straight into the central support. Oscar opened the flap dividing the two sections to find out what was going on. His eyes widened as he saw the central support break from the sudden force, and brushed aside many kitchen utensils, desperate to douse the cooking fire. It was the first time Ike had actually seen his eyes, an almost navy blue. The tent came crashing down, and Oscar couldn't reach the fire in time. The tent lit up painfully slowly as the people trapped underneath tried to escape. Surprisingly, no-one was seriously harmed, as Ranulf organised a rescue quickly.

Still, it seemed like dinner was going to be a repeat of breakfast...

.

Soren watched as the tent collapsed, then lit up. _...Aimee..._ Soren's eye twitched. Only she could cause such rapid, unpredictable destruction. He walked away, deciding there wasn't anything he could do now. He shook his head slightly. _It's only day 1..._

.

.

I was going to compile the 5 days into one chapter, but it was taking far too long. I'm sure a few of you will agree with that.

I'm curious to find out what you guys think will happen when Naruto sees his old friends, especially Sasuke. I already have it planned, but I'm still curious.


	78. A small break

**A small break**

Ike woke up, and his first thought was on breakfast. He quickly got dressed, and walked over to the mess hall...or where it was. He'd forgotten that it had been trashed upon Aimee's entrance.

"Ah, you're up." Ranulf called out to him.

Ike blinked. "Where's the food?"

"We're going for a more picnic style until we make another tent big enough to hold everything. Come, I'll take you there." Ranulf waved him over.

Ike followed him.

.

Where the 'picnic' was taking place, just happened to be where Haar and Shikamaru had decided to go to escape the chaos of the camp. Said people were rather annoyed at having their spot taken, but they'd just have to find another.

Ike would have gone straight for the steak, had Aimee not been waiting there for him. Instead, he went over to the salads, where Aimee would never think to look.

Not that there was entirely without trouble either.

"Hey, kid. Nice going, getting us thrashed like that." Came a voice Ike hadn't been expecting.

"Shinon, not now. Hungry." Ike piled various greens onto his plate. Somehow, this still smelled good. Oscar sure knew his stuff.

"Oh, that is just like you. Ignoring me because it's convenient." Shinon snickered.

This struck a hidden chord in Ike. He glared at the man. "Ok, look. No-one's forcing you to be here, you came with everybody else. You think I don't care that we got our asses kicked? I do, but dwelling on it isn't going to do anything. Hell, even Soren was impressed with our performance."

Shinon glared back. "Soren's a pompous ass! The only thing we could have been called in that last battle was crap! The only thing that held us together was Titania, and she still hasn't woken up yet!"

Ike blinked in shock. "...W-what...? Still?" Ike looked down...and found his plate suddenly empty.

Shinon looked on as Ilyana walked away, his jaw dropped. "...Where the hell does she put all that...?"

Ike went back to putting food on his plate, but with nowhere near the enthusiasm he had before. _I had barely even paid her any attention in the last fight. I don't have any clue what happened to her...What sort of commander am I...?_

"Hey Commander! Uh, are you ok?" Gatrie walked towards him.

"I've...failed, as a Commander..." Ike finished putting food on his plate.

Gatrie blinked. "Uh, Shinon, what did you say to him?"

Shinon shrugged. "That he has no leadership capabilities. You know, the usual. He's just able to accept it this time."

Gatrie frowned. "Ike's lead us to plenty of wins."

Shinon rolled his eyes. "As much as I hate to admit it, Soren does have a damn good head on his shoulders. Ike hasn't done jack."

Gatrie saw the leverage, and used it. "And who got Soren to talk?"

"The Commander." Shinon deadpanned.

Gatrie smiled. "Exactly!"

Shinon smirked dangerously. "Commander Greil was an amazing man."

Gatrie's grin slipped. "I thought we were talking about Ike."

"Ike isn't worth his father's legacy." Shinon walked away, far less pleased with himself than he thought he would be.

Gatrie walked over to Ike. "Look, I don't know exactly what he said, but Greil's pretty hard to measure up to. The fact that Shinon's still here shows you're not a bad leader." He shrugged. "So we lost a fight, we can't win them all."

"Titania's still out, Gatrie. And I have no idea what happened to her." Ike replied.

"Well, at least you know what to improve on. Shinon doesn't have that, and look how he turned out." Gatrie smiled a bit, trying to make Ike feel better.

Ike looked up. "...Thank you, Gatrie."

"Just being part of the team." Gatrie walked after Shinon.

Ike went to sit down, but noticed his plate was once again empty. Ilyana walked past, dipped a hand into a lettuce bowl, and pulled a large chunk of the greens out. The food was gone in 3 seconds. Ike could only blink. _Despite my problems, life goes on..._

.

Shikamaru was lazing around in a tree, looking up at the clouds. _I've been dragged into a war. I'd heard stories of honour and glory, but I'd always assumed it would be so ugly. This...this is exactly what the stories told._

"What are you doing up there?" Lethe asked, with her characteristic frown on her face.

Shikamaru jumped slightly. "...I was thinking."

Lethe sighed. "For such short lives, you beorc waste a lot of it doing that."

Shikamaru shifted his attention back to the sky. "The war...the lost lives...why isn't it bothering me?"

Lethe shook her head sadly. _So innocent..._ "Most of the deaths you know about is merely as a number. Your mind cannot comprehend it. That, and us laguz accept death as an end result. You beorc seem so desperate to avoid it."

Shikamaru kept gazing at the clouds. "...If you accept death, then why do you fight?"

"A laguz fights for pride and honour. Those things are unbound by death." Lethe explained.

"...And that is why..." Shikamaru trailed off.

Upon seeing that Shikamaru was not about to continue, Lethe sighed, and left.

.

Soren stood alone on a nearby hill, observing the night-time camp while considering Zelgius' challenge.

"Ah, the little beorc that doesn't think I am strong enough to defeat Begnion's general." A voice Soren was not expecting appeared from beside him.

Soren barely flinched. "You're not. Even Tibarn could not overpower him in that brief contest of strength, so what makes you think you can?" Skrimir growled. "Ah, I see. Your ego is too big to back down from certain defeat. Spare yourself the humiliation."

"The beast tribe is stronger than the bird tribe, beorc." Skrimir growled lowly.

Soren finally turned to the man. "And with that comment, you prove just how little you know." Soren turned and walked towards the camp.

"Show some respect!" Skrimir yelled after him.

Soren turned around, and walked right back up to him. "You have done nothing to earn my respect, _laguz_. It matters not your position, or race. Beorc are no more worthy of it. I only respect two people, Ike, and Ranulf. To me, you are no better than everyone else."

"I could crush you right now, puny beorc." Skrimir attempted intimidation.

"Such a brutish commented was expected from you." Soren turned around to walk away again.

Skrimir let him go this time, fuming at Soren's complete lack of care of his authority.

.

.

Sorry for the massive wait. Computer crashed, and it took 2 months to fix. Then I had to re-read my story to remember what I was doing. Not promising a lightning update, but I'm still working on the story.


	79. Not out war

**Not our war**

Pelleas opened the door for his guests. "Micaiah, Sothe..." He bowed tiredly.

"Your majesty? You look awful!" Micaiah exclaimed.

Pelleas gave a weak chuckle. "It reflects how I feel then."

Sothe shook his head. "She's right though. What's wrong?"

Pelleas took a moment to compose himself. He got a strong feeling Sothe was going to hurt him for this. "We are going to aid Begnion against the Laguz Alliance."

Micaiah took a sharp breath in surprise, and Sothe...Sothe had hoisted Pelleas up by the collar of his shirt, and barely stopped short of slamming him into the hard stone wall.

"What! ? !" Sothe exclaimed. Pelleas wheezed slightly.

"Sothe, put him down." Micaiah told him. Sothe turned back to her. "Let him explain."

Sothe didn't lower him, he just let go. Pelleas crumpled to the ground, before picking himself up and dusting off.

"Izuka was a Begnion spy. The form I filled out to reign the country, in fact bound me to Begnion's will." Pelleas observed Sothe carefully during this, as he was pivotal to any plan he may have.

Sothe narrowed his eyes at the mention of Izuka being a spy, then looked down slightly, obviously angry.

"What would you have us do, your majesty?" Micaiah interrupted the small silence.

Pelleas blinked, having momentarily forgotten about her. "I need you and Sothe to buy me some time. Micaiah, you will lead Daein's armies once more. Sothe, I..." Pelleas took a deep breath. Something about Sothe made it really difficult to talk to him. "...I sympathise with the Laguz Alliance. If Micaiah is unable to continue, or it becomes dangerous to stay, I want you to make an excuse to take command, preferably one that means people won't approach Micaiah. You will be the one to withdraw our forces, because you, officially, know nothing about my contract with Begnion. Understood?"

Sothe's hard face softened for a moment, before hardening again as he nodded.

Micaiah had one last question. "When do you want us to leave?"

Pelleas looked troubled. "As soon as possible. I would also like to have a word with Edward, Nolan, Leonardo, and Naruto."

"Understood, your majesty." Micaiah bowed, and both she and Sothe left Pelleas' meeting room.

.

"So, what do you think the prince wants from us?" Naruto asked as he walked toward the castle.

"King, Naruto." Leo reprimanded him. "He signed the form, remember?"

"Still, he's been hard to approach lately." Nolan sounded thoughtful. "Whatever it is, it won't be all good news."

"Gee, thanks for putting a downer on our hopes..." Edward sighed.

Leo rolled his eyes. "It's better to have a truthful perspective. False hopes only get broken."

Edward shot him a dirty look. Naruto spoke with a hint of venom. "Don't I know that one..."

Nolan stepped in. "How about we just let the king tell us? He has the answer, after all."

The group had to concede this point, and a much more solemn group walked towards the castle.

.

Pelleas had laid the items he'd gathered for the Dawn Brigade. He'd easily found things for everyone but Naruto, but he felt as if it was a suitable, admittedly expensive gift.

The men entered, sure that the news was going to be bad. They weren't exactly wrong, either.

"Thank you for coming. I have gifts for your hard service to Daein." Pelleas did his best to outwardly appear pleased, more than adequately enough to fool those present.

Their reactions were varied. Edward was ecstatic, barely able to keep to keep himself still. Leo blinked, completely unprepared for this turn of events. Nolan raised an eyebrow and hummed thoughtfully, appreciating the sight of the gifts. And Naruto wore the stupid grin he thought he'd left in his childhood, his efforts finally being realised for what they were.

Pelleas saw that Edward was the most energetic, and decided to give him his first, if only to occupy him. "Edward, from Daein's vault comes Caladbolg, a sword as sharp as it is durable." Pelleas picked it up from the table, and handed it to him delicately. "Use it carefully, as it cannot distinguish friend, from foe."

Edward hesitated at the last words, a rare moment of seriousness coming over him. "What do you mean?"

Pelleas looked at him carefully. "That blade is possessed. It thirsts for blood, and draws its wielder towards combat, actively honing their skills, and is quickly lost to battle rage."

Edward stared at the weapon. "Then why would you give it to me?"

Pelleas rested his hand on Edward's shoulder to emphasize his next words. "You had the will to stand up to Begnion, even as a small group. I think you can control Caladbolg."

The words returned Edward to his sunny disposition, who admired his sword while the other weapons were being given out. "Leonardo, again from Daein's vault, comes Lugnasadh, a bow without equal." Pelleas once again handed the weapon carefully to its new owner.

Leo was quick on the uptake. "What does it do?"

Pelleas smirked. "It has many niches, and they will eliminate the error in aligning the arrow, without any loss in speed."

Leo relaxed, glad that his weapon was not also cursed.

Pelleas turned to Nolan, and gestured for him to take the axe himself. "Nolan, from Daein's vault comes Tarvos, an axe that...uh..." Pelleas faltered in his speech, looking slightly sheepish.

Nolan frowned, worried that his axe had a terrible secret, like Caladbolg. "What is it?"

Pelleas scratched his head, grimacing. "Actually, it just looks cool. I thought you'd appreciate it around the...er, _new_ recruits."

Nolan blinked, looking down at the heavy axe, wondering how Pelleas had even gotten it in here.

"That means I got the fancy blue stuff, right?" Naruto looked at the remaining item on the table.

"Ah, yes. Naruto, I present you with the Elreste potion, a very powerful concoction. If fully consumed, it _should_ heal all your wounds and make you extremely resistant to magic." Pelleas nodded, handing him the potion.

Naruto picked up on his wording. "Should?"

Pelleas looked slightly nervous. "It's been in the vault for a very long time, I'm unsure if the effects remain as they're written."

Naruto looked at the potion, as if observing it would let him know its effectiveness.

"_**...You're not drinking that."**_

_Eh, it's not like it'll hurt me, right?_

"_**This is NOT up for negotiation. I don't trust it."**_

_Tch...Fine._ "Thanks for the gift." Naruto smiled.

"Why?" Leo asked suddenly.

Pelleas blinked. "Why what, Leonardo?"

"Why have you given us weapons in a time of peace? Something's going on, and I want to know what it is." Leo gave him a cold look.

Pelleas sighed. "We're going to war against the Laguz Alliance."

Edward jerked his head back to the king. "What? ! ? But we can't go to war now!"

"If even he can see it, we shouldn't go." Leo pinned his gaze on him. _Was this what Sothe saw in him?_

Pelleas looked down, like he was swallowing something bitter. "We can't _not_ go, I'm afraid. That's...all I can tell you at the moment. Please, trust me."

Nolan closed his eyes, deep in thought. "We need a goal to work towards, and that has always been the restoration of Daein. This...this makes no sense at all, unless we are their next target." He looks at Pelleas questioningly.

"I do not know if that is the case, however for the sake of Daein right now, my motives must remain hidden. I'm sorry..." Pelleas sighed again.

Naruto growled quietly, and stormed out, Edward following him quickly as he shared the sentiment.

Leo sighed at his friends' actions, giving Pelleas one last look. "The reason had better be good." He followed them out. Nolan followed him, thoroughly confused by the king's actions.

.

The Daein army gathered outside the castle, and Micaiah rallied them, an act far too easy for her liking. Once it was obvious they were fighting laguz, they didn't need any more encouragement. The still remarkably organized mob marched towards Begnion, calling for blood.


End file.
